


Mythos

by Taffyberry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Slow Burn, later chapters become darker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-04-21 02:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 95,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14274657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taffyberry/pseuds/Taffyberry
Summary: indefinite hiatus





	1. Artemis

**Author's Note:**

> So, I haven't actually written Harry Potter fanfiction in, gosh, I guess years. Recently I've stopped and started writing a few of them, and never decided to publish them because I was just messing around; but I decided to take this one slightly more seriously, and I figure if I post it, I actually have to finish it! I'm writing without any real plot in my mind, I have a few events in my mind, and I think I have an idea of how it's going to end but who knows! It's actually rather exciting to write without a full plot in mind for once!

I can separate my life to this point into three separate parts. The first, my life before my Hogwarts letter, would be like a novella. Short, contributing to the background of the character in the main part of the story, but not decisive in the actual plot. _Kind of_. Of course, most of the things that happened then defined who I would become later on; for one having to share everything with my brother and sister, living in a small and cramped house but one full of love, an overbearing father who was very over protective of my sister, Selene, and I, and a very protective brother, oh, and also the fact that my family were muggles. That’s probably the most important part of the pre-story. The second part of my story is more like the first part of the main story. It didn’t last long but there was a clear difference in before I became friends with the Weasley twins and after.

Of course, I knew them since my first day; we were in the same year, and they were very loud, hard to miss. They caused disruptions in class, played pranks all the time. They were always in trouble. Yet it was hard to not feel happy near them; they were a constant source of entertainment, and to a point, joy. Fred had infectious laughter, and George had the type of smile who could cheer anyone’s day up. We spoke, it was hard not to when Snape had forced George to work with me in potions in first year after he decided (and quite rightly) that Fred and he would cause too much trouble together. It hadn’t lasted long, eventually Snape decided they would cause a disruption no matter how far apart they were on the classroom. In fact, maybe more if they were on opposite sides. Because of that he allowed them to work together again, but right under his watchful gaze. If they put even one toe out of line in his lessons, he would give them a week of detentions. For the most part, after the initial few weeks, they stopped themselves before crossing the line. They may have, on occasion, put a toe over to test the boundaries every now and then, but they calmed down pretty much. Or at least, they stopped getting into as much trouble. I would later learn this wasn’t because they stopped getting up to mayhem, but more they just stopped getting caught.

Thinking back, the way I became friends with them isn’t as grandiose as one would probably assume. There was no prank involved, no getting into detention with them, not some uproar, no argument—nothing. We’d been in the common room during our fourth year, late at night when most other students had long since gone to bed. I was finishing up an essay for Snape, and while the pair of them whispering loudly in the common room was common place, hearing them arguing homework was not.

“Maybe we can just ask Hermione, she’s muggle born isn’t she,” George hissed.

“But we barely know her,” Fred replied.

“Well we can’t ask dad.”

Sighing, I stood up and headed towards where they were bent over the table, leaving my work in the armchair by the fireplace. “Any chance I can help?” I asked them, finding it almost impossible to laugh when they shot out of their skins.

“Blimey, Taylor! Scaring us like that,” George said, covering his heart with his hand. “Gave us a right heart attack.”

“I’m sure you’ll live,” I said mootly, leaning over their work. “Can I help?”

They stared at me curiously, Fred raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re an expert on muggles I don’t think so.”

“Well it just so happens I kind of am,” I chuckled.

“Really?”

“It comes with, you know, having a muggle family,” I shrugged at them. “I thought it was pretty common knowledge I’m muggle-born.”

They both stared at me and slowly I moved to sit on the chair next to Fred. Were they ever going to speak? They both seemed to be calculating their reply. “I guess, we just, well…”

“Kind of assumed you were from a wizarding family, I mean-“

“Your name is Artemis, that’s not really… muggle-y is it?”

They had a point, but it didn’t stop me from laughing. “My mother is obsessed with fancy sounding things, that’s why my brother is Felix, and my sister is Selene. None of us have normal names,” I snorted. “She gets Nancy while I’m Artemis. And you know what? She’s the one who shortens it most!”

“Matching names for siblings, ouch.”

I grinned, reading their essays so far and shaking my head. “We’re triplets-“

“Really?”

"Really,” I laughed.

“But I’ve never seen you with them,” George said, seeming quite interested.

“Well you wouldn’t, they go to muggle school,” I paused. “So, do you want help with this essay?”

It was strange, nothing had really happened, but after that we just seemed to become friends. They would sit near me in class and at meal times, I found myself drifting to work at the table with them, even when they were whispering and not doing work, we’d walk to and from classes together, and even started hanging out during break times. It just… happened. They’d waited for me outside of Transfiguration and spoken with me all the way down to the black lake and… well, it was just something we ended up doing all the time after that. By the end of fourth year I classed them both as my best friends.

Hogwarts came alive with them. They showed me so many secrets to the castle I could only have dreamed of, often snuck me out after hours just to go to the kitchens, coerced me into playing pranks on Filch with them—in fact a few times I had ended up thinking of my own ones which they had helped me with.

The friendship didn’t even burn out over Summer. They both sent me plenty of letters during their trip to Egypt, and had asked if we could meet and do school shopping together at the end August. Luckily it was the same time my father intended on taking me anyway, so I replied to them quickly that of course I would meet them. I was looking forward to seeing them again, so much so that I spoke of relatively nothing else for the few days before. It got on Selene’s nerves so much she had insisted she come along so she could meet them, which in turn made Felix believe he had to come; not only did he not want to miss out, but despite being the youngest of us three by a few minutes, he was fiercely protective of us.

So, it was a hot August day when the four of us packed into our tiny car and drove the one-hour trip up to London. Mother was working and unable to come with us, and since I would stay in the Leaky Cauldron and catch the train the day after, she and I had already said goodbye that morning. It had almost made her late for work. For the most part, the journey was silent. Felix was busy reading, Selene was looking over some work for school, and dad drove in silence while I stared out of the window. I think he enjoyed the peace. When we were younger, Selene, Felix, and I argued a lot, but it had mostly stopped now. I mean, apart from the ‘no you can’t take my top, Arte!’, and the ‘That’s disgusting, that’s _my_ toothbrush, Selene!’. Selene had been pretty upset I was going to Hogwarts and she wasn’t, but she was mollified when she realised that, for most of the year, she would finally get her own bedroom. Felix didn’t seem to mind so much, well, he envied me mostly for Honeydukes. I’d sent him some for Christmas in my third year and he’d loved it so much it was the first time he’d expressed anything like ‘I wish I was a wizard’.

“You know if mother had given me a name, like… I don’t know Hebe,” Selene sighed loudly, dramatically draping herself over the table. “Maybe I would be going to Hogwarts too.”

“Oh yes,” I drawled, watching her. “Because Selene is so common too. What, Felix should be-“

“Philo,” she sniffed.

“You thought about this a lot,” I raised an eyebrow, smacking her hand away from trying to steal my wand away. “I don’t think a name would have helped.”

“Well,” Felix sighed. “I don’t envy it, all that homework she has over summer. Gross.”

I grinned.

The three of us played a rather loud game of exploding snap while my father went to exchange some money. Sometimes I really did miss having them with me, it had been part of the reason I’d been so quiet my first few years at Hogwarts. I missed them both a lot, and it was odd not having them both with me all the time. Fred and George had made it a lot easier, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they had been the reason they’d incorporated me into their friendship group. They understood the ‘twin’ connection, they would be lost without one another.  
The door opened and a large crowd moved in. I only needed to see red hair to recognise them, and I grinned, waving over the twins. They separated from the rest of their family and came over. “Wow, that’s a large family,” Felix murmured.

“They have two older brothers too,” I replied.

Fred, George, and Selene were all staring at each other. I stared back dumbly. And then, all together, the three of them half shirked. “You’re identical!”

Felix laughed, gripping onto my arm. Indeed, Selene and I were mostly identical. Felix would have looked like us too, had he been a girl, yet his strong jaw, and his hazel eyes separated us. He had the same long eye lashes though, but nicer cheek bones. All three of us had dark brown hair, and Selene and I had green eyes compared to hazel. There were some rather obvious differences between her and I; she had a beauty mark above her lip, on the left side, and she often curled her hair. It had been her way to get people to tell us apart. At least until I’d cut my hair short over summer.

“Don’t worry, Felix, you’re pretty too,” she said absently, patting his arm.

“Fred, George, this is Selene and Felix,” I motioned to them, leaving them for a few moments when my dad returned with a small coin sack.

“Here,” he smiled. “There’s a bit extra in there for your birthday, so you can get an owl or something.” My face must have lit up because he laughed and messed my hair up a bit. “Just make sure you get your mothers consent on its name.”

“Of course,” I grinned back. “Thanks dad.”

“You’re welcome, squirt.”

I grimaced at the nickname, especially since upon hearing it, the twins got a rather devious grin on their faces. I was the eldest of the three, also the shortest; hence squirt. My dad laughed again. “Make sure you write.”

“Oh, dad, we’re not leaving-“ Selene frowned. “But this place is so much more interesting than anywhere else.”

Felix shook his head. “You know when you snuck that paper to school and that girl-“

“Jenny.”

“Got taken to the nurse because everyone thought she was insane, because the pictures moved?”

Selene shrugged. “Not my fault she was being nosey.”

Felix sighed deeply. “Bloody nightmare you are.”

The pair left, bickering with each other. At least until they rushed back in to say goodbye—Selene was staring to get teary when my dad pulled them away after saying his own goodbye. Eventually I was left in between the twins, both of whom looked to me with grins.

“So, Squirt.”

I groaned, hitting Fred in the chest. “Don’t.”

“Come meet our family now!”

If I’d wanted to protest Fred, which I didn’t, it would have fallen on deaf ears since be pulled me straight over, George close behind us. I already knew Percy well enough, and I had to stop myself from laughing when he stuck his chest out enough that his head boy badge was obvious. I knew Ron in passing, yet they introduced him, and Ginny again. Their father was a rather interesting man, but very kind and welcoming. According to the twins he was obsessed with muggles. Their mother, however, was the loveliest person I’d ever met outside of my own family. She was warm and very kind, greeting me with a tight hug.

The three of us left as Hermione arrived with her parents. “Mum’s getting our books,” George said.

“I need to get them anyway,” I shrugged, leading them to the second-hand book store. My family like theirs wasn’t that well off, and my school stuff was expensive, so we tried to save money everywhere. “I think I can get another year out of the robes I have,” I mumbled, laughing softly. “I didn’t grow over summer.”

“We noticed.”

I hit Fred again.

“Cut your hair off though, s’nice.”

I blushed. Fred and George didn’t compliment often, and while I wanted to protest and deny it entirely, all I could do was stutter out a thank you as I pulled them into Eeylops. “Dad gave me money for an owl,” I sighed softly, happy to finally have my own. It didn’t take long until we exited the shop, as soon as we’d stepped in, a screech owl had hooted and flown around us for a few moments, before settling happily on Fred’s shoulder and leaning over to affectionately nip my ear. I didn’t even look at others; he was handsome looking, yet cute all at once and friendly too. Plus, he really seemed to like Fred, and both George and I joked it would be a shame to separate him from his new friend. I decided I would name him Apollo and I knew my mother would agree with the naming choice even without asking her.

We finished the rest of our shopping up quickly, I’d dragged them into the ice cream parlour, and in return they’d dragged me into the Quidditch supplies store. We were laughing together as we made our way back to the Leaky Cauldron. It was nice listening to them talk about it, though, I’d wanted to try out for the Quidditch team each year, but I’d never had the confidence to do it. I knew the current team was good, and even though they had try-outs every year in case someone better came along, it would be difficult to come out on top. I bit my lip. Fifth year would be busy enough with OWL’s, yet if I didn’t try out now, perhaps I wouldn’t get a chance in the future. I had two years left at Hogwarts after this year, and NEWT year would be even busier.

“I thought for sure you’d be prefect,” Percy said to me as I sat near him. The twins had vanished to take stuff up to their room, and I’d already gone and returned down. Apollo was on my shoulder, curiously looking around at everything.

“Nope,” I laughed softly. “I think I blew it when I stuck Filch’s office to his ceiling,” I added. “Or maybe when I turned his files into chicks… that one was rather amusing, though.” Maybe I should have turned them all into kittens. Filch probably would have liked that.

He frowned, mumbling something about the ‘twins negative influence’ and occupied himself with his paper. Honestly, Percy could be a real git sometimes. I’d always thought I got on with him fine, in my first year he’d been rather helpful. I could always count on him, or his elder brother Charlie, if I was lost or confused about something. But he didn’t seem, at all, to agree with my newfound friendship with his younger brothers, in fact, his current hostility proved that if he’d had his way, I wouldn’t even know they existed.

Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were still off doing their shopping and apparently looking for Harry Potter, so without Percy to talk to, and with Fred and George upstairs, I instead started talking with Mr. Weasley. We spoke at first about Muggles, he had a few questions which he hadn’t asked Harry or Hermione and I was happy to answer them. He was curious about me being a triplet too, especially the fact neither of them turned out to be magical. After that the conversation turned more serious, even Percy joined in on it.

“What do you plan to do after Hogwarts?”

The question shouldn’t have stumped me so much, it was one I was going to be asked a lot that year, but honestly—“I have no idea,” I said, smiling weakly. “We have careers meetings with our head of house this year, no? I was hoping McGonagall could give me some ideas.”

“You could consider the ministry,” Percy sniffed, staring down his nose at me. “Father works there, and I plan on working there. You’re intelligent enough.”

I laughed softly, trying not to be insulted by the way he’d said, ‘intelligent enough’. “Being stuck behind a desk doesn’t really interest me,” I said slowly. “No fresh air? Yuck.”

“It’s not all desk jobs,” Mr. Weasley spoke up. “I mean, a lot of roles include a mass of paperwork. Even being an Auror, but that jobs a lot more hands on. You could always look into working in the magical beast’s department, they get out a lot more.”

Neither of those ideas really appealed to me. I couldn’t even think of anything which would suit the things I was good at, though my knowledge of magical careers was rather short, so I just settled with waiting until I had my talk with McGonagall. She knew me well enough, she’d be able to suggest something which fit me.

The others returned soon after. I greeted Harry briefly, whom seemed surprised to see me, and Ginny took the seat on the other side of me. She was a sweet girl, I’d met her the previous year a few times when she’d come to Fred and George for help. The twins appeared soon after, behind their mother. They were whispering again, which didn’t really shock me, they were always up to something. But all throughout dinner they were quite distracted and left me to talk with Ginny. I also spent a good amount of time admiring Hermione’s new cat, Crookshanks, who was following Apollo around the room as he flitted back and forth from me to Fred. He was quite the cat, though Ron didn’t seem to like him very much, mostly due to the fact his rat, Scabbers, was ill. When it started to get late, Mrs. Weasley ushered us all to bed, making sure we finished packing first since we wouldn’t have much time in the morning.

As always, I was unable to sleep the night before the train. I wasn’t sure why, but it had been like this every year. I guess it was excitement, but not long after I tried sleeping did I decide it wasn’t productive. I tried to distract myself by reading one of our textbooks for the year but was distracted when Apollo flew in through the window, a piece of paper attached to his leg.  
“Who on earth is writing to me already?” I raised an eyebrow, taking it from his outstretched leg. He hooted happily, nipping my fingers and heading back out to hunt. “Fred-,“ I laughed softly. They’d only written ‘come to our room if you’re awake’. No one else was awake so I didn’t need to be careful of getting caught. I knocked gently on their door and chuckled when I heard them ‘shh’ each other.

“It’s me,” I murmured, loud enough for them to hear.

“Bloody hell,” George sighed, opening the door and pulling me in quick. “I thought it was mum. She’s been staring at us suspiciously all week.”

“Well, you two are whispering together more than usual,” I shrugged, sitting on the edge of one of the beds. “Why aren’t you two sleeping?”

Fred shrugged. “Why aren’t you?”

“I never sleep the night before the train, well… not easily,” I laughed. “I guess I’m excited or something.”

Usually I would slide into bed with Selene and try and get a few hours sleep before the train, or if all else failed, I would go downstairs and read on the sofa, so I wouldn’t disturb her. I was rather happy to be able to speak with other people for once, even when I found my eyelids eventually closing on their own. I’d long since lost track of the conversation, they’d both mentioned some ‘products’ they were trying out and were going to use all the time this year to get a few of them as close to perfect as possible. They’d gone on about a joke shop they wanted, and after that went into details about how they wanted it. It had been too much for me half asleep.

“Oi,” Fred muttered. “You shouldn’t sleep here, if mum walks in she’ll have a fit.”

I laughed softly and rubbed my eyes. “I should go back to my room.”

“Here,” Fred said quickly, helping me stand up. I insisted to him I didn’t need him to walk me back, but he did anyway; the whole three rooms down the hall. “If I hadn’t come you would never have made this long, perilous journey,” he announced as I unlocked my door and pushed it open.

“You’re right,” I shook my head, smiling up at him. “You really saved my ass, Ser Fred.”

He gave me a mock bow and the charming smile which belonged to him and only him. “It was my pleasure, Lady Artemis.”

I laughed at him. “Good night, Fred.”

“G’night, squirt.”


	2. Try-outs

It only took one week of classes to show us that OWL year was, indeed, the busiest year so far. I had essays for every class, some due the day after and then replaced the following day with yet another (and usually longer) essay. Fred and George took the least number of classes, yet even so they were the least impacted. They didn’t care about their grades at all if they passed and put the bare minimum effort into their work. I didn’t even have time to be put out with them, spending as much time in the library as possible, or staying up late in the common room to finish off my work. There was also the fact I was trying to spend some time practicing flying. The twins were more than willing to help me with that though. I’d tried to keep it a secret from them, but when I’d returned to the common room, cold and wet one evening, they’d asked why I’d been outside. I had explained my intent to try out for the team as I dried myself off with the hot air charm.

As it turned out I made a fair beater, but since both spots were occupied by the twins and I decided it wouldn’t be as fun without both there, I instead focused on the role of a chaser. They both thought I had a pretty good shot at making the team, even when I pointed out they already had three superb chasers. I made them promise, that even if I didn’t make the team, they would come and do this with me anyway; it was a good stress relief, and even if I could (and should have) used the time better, by studying or thinking about my future, I felt much better after. As they’d both pointed out, since I had no idea what to do with my life, I shouldn’t be worrying about grades so much. I disagreed, though, and just saw it that I needed to get even better grades in case I figured it out, and later needed a class I had neglected.

My meeting with McGonagall came at the beginning of the third week, a few days before Quidditch try-outs. Professor McGonagall was a strict and stern woman, but I quite liked her. She was a good teacher, and despite being strict, I'd always felt she was quite fair. She expected us to do our best, and while other students often felt she expected too much and pushed us too much, often getting upset with us when we couldn't do something which she deemed easy, I found I flourished under those sorts of conditions. It was for that reason two of my best subjects were Transfiguration and Potions.

"Good afternoon, Professor," I smiled at her, taking the seat opposite her. She peered at me for a few moments.

"I understand you're going to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year."

"Y-yes," I smiled more. She was a serious woman, especially when it came to Quidditch. In fact, I think she even beat Oliver Wood in her desire for the Gryffindor team to win; especially against Slytherin.

She said nothing else about it, but there was a tight-lipped smile on her face as she spoke to me about careers. She hadn't seemed at all shocked when I told her I had 'absolutely' no idea what it was I wanted to do after I graduated and instead handed me a lot of leaflets. She had agreed with me, that a desk job wasn't for me. I was a practical person; I liked to get my hands into things. Honestly, I had assumed she would sniff and give me a pointed look which would be followed by a lecture about how I must absolutely have an idea in mind. Instead she told me she would simply talk with me again at the start of next term, and until then I should think very seriously about what I wanted to do.

The leaflets were useful though, they showed me a lot of options I had no idea existed, but mostly they were useful in telling me what I didn't want to do. I couldn't even go by what I'd wanted to do before I found out I was a witch because I was a rather whimsy child, and one week I wanted to be a vet, the next an astronaut, and the week after a fairy. Felix had his mind set on becoming a doctor, and Selene was torn between a few options, though she seemed to be leaning more towards baking.

Over summer I had confessed to my dad and mother I had no idea what I wanted to do and that because of it, I felt as if I was behind my siblings. They'd both reassured me that when I found what I was supposed to do with my life I would know it instantly, and they both had faith in me.

However, it kept me pretty occupied during charms class, that even George told me off for not paying attention. Neither of them cared about the careers meetings; they only had one goal in mind, and every time someone told them that they couldn't, it just seemed to spur them on. I had been sceptical, not because I doubted them, but because of the pure cost of getting started. I didn't see how they could possibly afford it. But, if anyone could make it work, it would be them.

The last lesson on Friday was Defence Against the Dark Arts. The new teacher for this year, Professor Lupin, was a frail looking teacher, yet kind. He was softly spoken, but he didn't tolerate disrespect in his classes. While he often told Fred and George off for speaking in classes, he would just give them polite smiles. After we'd heard about how he'd shot chewing gum up Peeves' nose, though, he seemed to gain a lot more respect from the class. He was a rather fascinating teacher, I had to admit, he taught us a lot of interesting things. I found myself enjoying the class a lot more than I had done in the past. Quirrell had been an okay teacher, despite jumping easily, but Lockhart had been a nightmare. Not only was he utterly useless, but with the class full of girls infatuated with him, it was near impossible to focus on work.

"It's a real shame Professor Lupin won't be here for NEWT year," I said, sitting down for dinner. I grabbed my goblet and sighed happily. I'd just run from the library and I was parched.

"Why won't he?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. I noted he sounded rather put-out; apparently, he liked Lupin a lot. I couldn't blame him, most students liked him.

"Well the post is jinxed, isn't it?" I shrugged. "There's been a new defence teacher every year for..." I raised my eyebrows. "Well a really long time." I paused. "Where are Fred and George?"

Ron shrugged, shovelling food into his mouth.

"Oh lovely," Hermione muttered, watching him in a mix of awe and disgust. She huffed, looking around the hall for something to distract herself, only whatever she found seemed to foul her mood even worse. "Look at him."

I glanced over my shoulder to follow her gaze, my eyes setting on Draco Malfoy. "What happened to his arm?" I asked, turning back and putting some butter on a jacket potato.

Harry and Hermione went into a full-on explanation of what had happened during their class on the first Wednesday between Malfoy and the Hippogriff. I was surprised I hadn't heard about it yet, but then again, I'd been so busy with work I had barely had time to do much else.

"But I don't get it-- Madam Pomfrey could heal that up in an instant, Hippogriff talons aren't venomous," I shrugged. "And I'm sure Hagrid looks after them enough that they're not covered in diseases. I mean, when we did them before he took over classes, they were fine."

Hermione sighed. "But it's Malfoy, of course he's going to lord it up. He wants his father to make Hagrid’s life hell."

I shook my head. I guess that explained why Hagrid had been quiet during our lessons the past two weeks. In fact, this week we had started Unicorns (though we had already done them, but he'd seemingly forgotten if Kettleburn had told him), and he didn't seem to have much enthusiasm. Now it seemed to make sense. The three began to talk amongst each other so I focused on my dinner and wondering where the twins were. They were probably discussing more products of theirs-- they had really good ideas that was true, some of the stuff was rather ingenious, but I couldn't help but worry. They were intelligent, absolutely brilliant when the applied themselves, and while I certainly understood their mindset--

"Artemis."

Oliver Wood had taken the spot beside me, staring quite eagerly at me. "Y-yes?" I slid along the bench slightly, feeling quite odd to have him so close.

"You're coming to try-outs tomorrow."

"Yes?" I raised my eyebrows.

"For chaser?"

"Yes... I'm sorry, Oliver, but you already know this right? McGonagall gave you the list, I confirmed it with her earlier too."

He rubbed his hands together. He looked like a man possessed, not entirely there. "Okay well, Alicia is quitting the team. She was playing with some friends over summer and got really hurt-"

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine," he frowned, looking quite put out. "But she's nervous to get on a broom again. Silly, if you ask me. This is the best team we've had in years-" he inhaled. "Look, I don't know many of the others trying out-"

"Oliver, you don't even know me-"

Angelina, who was sat the other side of him, sniggered into her pumpkin juice.

"No... no I don't," he looked at the table for a moment. "But you get on really well with both Fred and George, and Angelina," he turned to her. "You could be the best fit, if you're any good that is, I mean, comparing to Katie's standards is going to be difficult but this is our- my-our... our last chance for the cup-"

"Is Quidditch being cancelled after this year?"

"What?" He looked shocked. "No... no I just mean, it's my last year isn't it?" He shook his head, trying to clear it or... or something. Apparently, Katie quitting had really put a damper in the works. "The twins said you're decent."

I just stared at him. Honestly, what was he trying to do? He couldn't give me the spot without seeing me play at try-outs, and his current attitude was just making me nervous, as if I didn't do well I would just be a substandard replacement for Katie, like I would be the weak-link who let his dreams down. He walked off soon after, muttering things under his breath in a list. He almost walked into a few first years in his distraction. "No pressure then," I muttered, pushing my dinner from me. Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry.

Eventually I gave up with dinner and said goodbye to Angelina and Hermione (Ron and Harry were engaged in some energetic conversation which seemed an enthusiastic back and forth about how much of a git Malfoy was) and headed off to attempt to find Fred and George. What I needed was a distraction, and hopefully they would be able to provide it.

After about half an hour of searching, during which I had accidentally walked into Professor Snape who had a goblet in his hands and was barking about the importance of watching where I was going, I gave up and headed back to the common room. They could be anywhere, in any of the old classrooms or bathrooms, or even in the secret passages and without their map I would never find them. I briefly considered seeing if it was in their dorm but pushed it out of my mind and instead focused on an essay for McGonagall on silent spells.

Hermione joined me soon after, hauling a lot more books than I thought necessary. Honestly, how many subjects was she taking? And there was me, looking forward to being able to drop almost everything next year. My shoulders slumped. I still had no idea what I wanted to do, which subjects I should keep and focus hard on, and which ones I could just go for a pass in. I must have entirely lost track of time because the next thing I really remember was Fred and George sitting at the table loudly, causing me to jump out of my skin.

"Alrigh', squirt?" Fred grinned.

"Don't--- do that!" I gasped out, staring at them quite wide eyed. "Where were you at dinner? I needed you to save me from Oliver!"

"We were working on something," George replied. "Why'd you need saving from Oliver? He doesn't fancy you, does he?"

I snorted. "Oliver fancys his broomstick, everyone knows that." The pair of them snickered. "He was going on about how Alicia quit the team-"

"What?!"

"Yeah, she hurt herself over summer and now doesn't want to get on a broom again," I sighed, closing my textbook up. It was only the third week of OWL year, and already I had a pounding headache. "But he decided to take it upon himself to relay the information to me, and how it was his last chance to win the cup. So, no pressure or anything. I couldn't eat after that. I doubt I'll be able to eat tomorrow."

"You'll do fine, Arte, believe us when we say you're really good," George grinned. "Though Oliver can be a bit like that, it was much more fun when Charlie was captain," he sniffed a bit. "He's really wanted us to win the past few years, I have a feeling he's going to be really overbearing this year."

"What? Oliver Wood overbearing?" Fred asked. "Never!"

I laughed. They always had a way of diffusing any tension or stress in the air. They used humour to cope when things were tough, but it seemed to help other people too, not just them. I would have been lost without their laughter. I couldn't imagine what I would be doing without them right now-- probably essay's and homework, no worry about Quidditch try-outs... Perhaps I would be prefect, but I couldn't say that was the epitome of excitement. Suddenly, it dawned on me. "Oh no."

"What is it?"

"If I'd never become friends with you I would have turned out to be like Percy."

Silence.

Both were staring at me, trying to process what I'd just told them, that, or they couldn't fathom the idea of two Percy's. One was terrifying enough. "Gosh," I said at length. "I'm a really boring person, aren't I?"

"Not boring," Fred said. "I mean... who's idea was it to turn Filch's paperwork into chicks?"

I grinned. "One of my finer moments."

"I do have to say," George started, keeping his voice grave and serious to match his expression. "We should take full responsibility for corrupting this innocent life, Freddie. Not only have we diverted her from the path of Percy-dom, but now she's become the focus of an overzealous Quidditch captain. Entirely our fault."

"You're right, Georgie," Fred replied, taking the same tone. "There's only one way to make up for this."

And that was how I found myself being dragged down to the kitchens. Thanks to the map we managed to avoid any teachers; I bloody loved that thing. I'd always been so curious how they'd managed to figure out how it worked, but they were both rather brilliant when they wanted to be. The house elves were quick to greet us. I bent down in front of one called Widget and smiled warmly. She was a sweet little thing, a high-pitched voice and huge eyes. "Good evening, Widget."

"Miss. Taylor!" she squeaked out. "It is good to be seeing you!"

I grinned at her, taking her little hand and squeezing it softly. She was always so kind to me, and always happy to give me all the food I wanted. As soon as Fred informed her that I hadn't eaten dinner she hurried about fixing me something.

"You shouldn't have told her," I sighed, eyes narrowing as I found another house elf to inform them that the twins had entirely missed dinner. "There," I grinned at them both.  
It was hard to have no appetite when Widget was being so attentive and warm, even more so when both Fred and George were talking quite animatedly and distracting me from thinking about try-outs. They were going over the story from last year, when they'd broken Harry out of his Aunt and Uncle's house with a flying car. I had heard it before, but it was still hilarious to hear.

"Isn't it strange?" I mused, sitting back against the wall in between the pair of them. We'd long since finished our meals and I was currently drinking some peppermint tea before we left. It was probably way beyond curfew, and no doubt I was going to be exhausted tomorrow, but at least I would be well-fed I guessed. "That we're already in fifth year. Two years left after this, then that's it. Then there's Ginny, in her second year... Harry and the others in their third. The time just goes."

"Well it was much longer before Harry came, that's for sure," George laughed. "Not a dull year since he came. I can only imagine what will happen this year."

"Oh, don't," I shook my head. "Knowing his luck Sirius Black is going to turn up in front of him. I'd say he's a magnet for trouble, but that's you two-" they both gave me grins. "He's a magnet for danger."

We thought about it in silence for a bit. It was true, though, and having joked about Sirius Black and Harry-- well... who else would he be after? Unless it was Dumbledore or one of the other teachers, in which case Hogwarts really wasn't safe. "I don't like those dementors, they're creepy. They're not even away from the entrance's and it's still so-so... cold..." I shook my head. "There was a thick mist outside during the first Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid reckons it was them."

"They are pretty nasty," George agreed.

I realised they weren't about to make a joke about them. It had always shocked me when they turned serious, and I was quite shocked to find this was one of their serious moments. Out of anything to joke about, dementors seemed rather easy pickings. Though, when I tried to think about making fun of them I couldn't. I just felt... cold. Fear. I shuddered. "Let's change the subject."

Fred hummed loudly for a moment, before grinning. "How about something scarier than dementors?"

I sat forward and stared at him. What was scarier than dementors? Unless it was a livid McGonagall and Snape forming into one person- "What's that?"

"How you almost became the second Percy," he said. "Did you mean that?"

I groaned, sitting back. "Well, it's true," I shrugged. "I didn't really do much other than study before. The only person I spoke to frequently is that Hufflepuff girl, Summer."

"Isn't she the one that hexed Malfoy last year?"

I laughed, nodding. "If I hadn't gotten those detentions with you both last year, I would probably be prefect. If I'd never become your friends..." I shrugged. "Hogwarts would have been really dull." I paused. "I always wondered why the hat put me in Gryffindor."

"Why?"

I shrugged and sighed. "I'm not exactly brave, nor am I quite adventurous."

They shared a look together, then George spoke. "I think you're plenty of both. You weren't even worried once last year about rules, we broke them, and you just had fun with it-- you didn't even care when we got into trouble."

"I don't think that classes as brave, George."

"But you came here, knowing nothing about magic, or being a witch and it didn't stop you at all. Most other muggle borns who just get hesitant, but you got stuck right in. You never think twice about doing things; you just do it."

I laughed. So, my lack of being responsible was why I was a Gryffindor. I suppose they did have a point though. "Well, I sure don't belong in Ravenclaw," I laughed. "And Hufflepuff's work too hard... and who would want to be Slytherin? I mean, I'm muggle-born anyway. Do you think muggle-born Slytherin's exist?"

Fred shrugged. "They have to, don't they? I don't suppose they have an easy time of it, though. Maybe they don't even admit what they are. I can't imagine a git like Malfoy letting it slide if there was one."

We didn't stay for much longer as it was nearing three in the morning. They both apologised quite a lot as I yawned my way up to the girls’ dormitories. If Oliver was going to yell at me for not sleeping, I was sure going to make them take responsibility for it. Thankfully sleep came easily now I was sufficiently exhausted and well fed.

Despite the few hours’ sleep I did get before Angelina woke me up, I was surprisingly well rested. I must have slept deeply. I was fairly sleep during breakfast, though, almost falling into my porridge until Lee slammed his hand on the table and made me jump out of my skin. The loud laughter of my friends caused Snape to glare at us from the head table, but if anything, that just spurred the laughter on more.

The thing about being a triplet from a family with little money was birthdays hadn't been exciting, even less so given the proximity of our birthday to Christmas. Up until we were six we just did it the normal way; Christmas, then we'd get one gift each on our birthday on December 31st. We never complained, of course not; how could we? While it was normal for a child to get upset over those things, we never went without. Our parents always tried to make it up to us with as much love as they could give us. When we were six, our parents announced that while we would celebrate our birthday on December 31st, we wouldn't get gifts then. Instead, we would each pick a month throughout the year and get a gift then. It allowed them to get us something more than they would have been able to before, being our birthday was so close to Christmas. Felix always picked March, Selene was May, and I always went for August. This year I'd gotten my owl early, though, but the year before I'd asked whether they could get me a broomstick. Mostly I'd wanted one with the intent of just racing Summer around during term (she was a chaser on the Hufflepuff team, and a bloody good one at that), but now it seemed I would have actual use for it. Of course, I hadn't been able to get anything fancy, but it was much better than the school ones.

My mother had been very confused by the request, until I elaborated that magical broomsticks were for flying. When I'd shown them how it worked summer just past, they'd all been so in awe. It was the second instance in which Felix had wanted to be a wizard. I couldn't wait to be able to apparate and do magic at home.

Eventually I pushed my empty bowl away from me. There was still some time yet, but I was really starting to get nervous. In fact, I was so jumpy that when a pair of arms hugged me from behind quite tightly, I almost shot out of my skin. It caused another round of laughter at my expense.

"Summer!" I sighed deeply. I couldn't see her, but I could hear her infectious giggle and smell her. She had a unique scent; she always smelled of blueberries and cinnamon. Always. Without fail. She was a Hufflepuff in Harry's year. I'd always thought she belonged in Gryffindor more than Hufflepuff because she never seemed scared of anything. She had a better track record of fighting with Malfoy than Harry did; all because he would call me 'mudblood' and her first instinct was to stand up for me. I didn't care what Malfoy said, to be honest. I never retaliated because I couldn't care less, not because I was fearful of standing up for myself. Summer was a very loyal friend to everyone; I suppose that was why she was Hufflepuff. That, and she was insanely hard working. She had a really hard time learning a lot of spells, and Snape was especially nasty to her, but she never complained about it. I'd met her during her first year when she'd almost been about to walk into Myrtle's bathroom. I'd had to grab her quickly and direct her to some bathrooms which weren't occupied by a crying ghost. After that I bumped into her quite a lot, and she asked for my help when she was trying out for the Quidditch team, but we just ended up racing each other instead of doing anything productive. If the twins were a magnet for trouble, Summer was a magnet for fun. A walking way of sunshine, so to speak.

"Oh, hello, Summer," Hermione smiled at her.

"Hello," Summer grinned, letting me go and sitting beside me. Her long, blonde hair was tied into a braid which fell down her back. She greeted the others, though when her eyes fell on Neville her cheeks tinged pink. "H-h-hello, N-Neville."

"H-hello."

I grinned at Fred.

Summer only stayed to wish me luck and apologise she couldn't come down, apparently their Quidditch team already had try-outs, and their captain, Cedric Diggory, a rather handsome boy from my year, wanted to go over some strategies. She gave me another hug before she left, and then the rest of us left down for the pitch. Hermione had work to do, but Ron was going to watch. I guessed there was no contest for Harry's spot, he really was a good seeker.

Outside was covered in a drizzle of rain. Not so bad, we could see quite easily, and I supposed the conditions would be good, we'd probably play in this sort of weather anyway, maybe even worse. And at least the sun wasn't glaring at us.

There were three other students, two boys and one girl, who wanted the free chaser spot. Alicia was sitting in the stands, watching intently. No one else had turned up; one kid had come to try and get a spot as beater, but Fred and George seemed to intimidate them, so he'd run off looking quite green. Again, Oliver drilled it into us that Alicia was a good chaser, and that we had 'very big robes to fill' if we got her spot. The four of us shared the same look.

Oliver put us through all sorts of tests. He made us play small games with one new candidate each, then mixed it up so two of us were playing, then three of us, and then would swap around. One of the boys, a quiet looking fourth year called Jakob fell off his broom early on so Oliver ruled him out as he took himself up to Madam Pomfrey. The other boy was a rather friendly second year called Bertie. He was a good flyer, but he was very slow with the quaffle and he took too long to decide what to do with it.

The other girl, a very pretty sixth year called Olivia, was pretty good. She was also super competitive and didn't like passing the quaffle at all. It annoyed Katie and Angelina so much, the latter had yelled at her for it. The twins were taking it upon themselves to hit the bludger in her direction a lot too, but even without them doing that, Oliver had already decided that while she was good, she couldn't play with the team well. Unless I was awful, she was out.

So, no pressure.

Olivia got rather uptight, claiming the twins sabotaged her by hitting bludgers at her too much, all in favour of me. Their only reply was to try extra hard to knock me off. It worked in my favour though. I was already friends with Angelina, and Katie was easy enough to get on with so the three of us could work together well. I knew the only reason the twins were hitting at me extra hard was because they knew I was fast enough to handle it-- for what I lacked in other areas, I made up in being quick. I wasn't perfect, I was far beyond it. I missed more goals than I got in.

Eventually, Oliver decided to call it, and everyone landed in the middle of the pitch. I hit Fred and George playfully on the arms. "You gits, you almost got me with that last one."

"That was the idea!" George said, quite happily.

"You see, we felt it was quite disrespectful to you-"

"For her-" they both looked at where Olivia was approaching from.

"To act as if you needed us to sabotage her and go easy on you to get in."

I paused.

The one thing most people didn't know about the Weasley twins was that they had rather big hearts. They just covered it with pranks and mischief. I had been shocked the first time I had discovered their compassion, and this was just another moment they showed it. I smiled thankfully at them both. Indeed, it seemed they'd done me a favour by going harder on me too.

"Artemis is the better flyer, there's no doubt," Oliver said. "And she's also the better at teamwork."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "She missed most of her shots."

"I'm aware of that."

Oliver pulled the others aside to discuss his decision with them. Olivia was just stood there, arms folded under her chest, her prefect badge shining out. Of course, she was prefect. I recalled she was one of Percy's friends too; rather uptight.

"Right," Oliver said again, coming back over. "We're going to give the spot to Artemis."

"What?!" Olivia yelled. "But she missed-"

"She did," Angelina frowned. "She knows it too, you don't need to keep saying it." Olivia sniffed but glared at her. "But your attitude stinks. It's easier to teach someone to shoot better than it is to teach manners and a good personality."

Ouch.

I gave her a grateful smile which she returned brightly. Harry was grinning too while the twins laughed at Olivia's face. Apparently, you really didn't want to piss off the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"You really do need some practice," Oliver said firmly. "We can fix it quickly, though, and if all else fails we just need to make a strategy where Katie and Angelina score more."

I laughed weakly; I really didn't want to be the weak link on the team, so I vowed to myself, and promised him I was going to work hard to improve. Hopefully without the twins trying extra hard to knock me off, I would be able to score more. Still, I was excited; even as Oliver ranted about how we had to win this year, and how he was going to put a strict training regime in place. Well, I was right about one thing: this year was going to be insanely busy.


	3. Halloween

Oliver was true to his word. He did work us hard, and by the looks the rest of the team would give him when he would yell at us, he was worse than he'd ever been. At first, I thought it was mostly my fault since for at least four practices I still couldn't score reliably, but eventually it seemed as if he just had a fault with everything. Fred eventually snapped at him and told him to cool it; no one could practice when everyone was on edge. Oliver had wanted to respond, but Angelina's dark look from the other side of the changing room had stopped him. In fact, within the team, the only ones who weren't on edge were Katie and Harry. Even the twins seemed tense, though I doubt theirs had anything to do with the workload from OWL year, or in Oliver’s case, NEWT year. The saving grace of all these practices was that Madam Hooch or another teacher would oversee it, mostly because of Sirius Black. To begin with I'd thought it ridiculous, both Angelina and I making (perhaps poorly made) jokes about how he'd escaped because he obviously hated Quidditch so much he wanted to blow us up. Harry laughed, Katie just looked sick. But eventually it turned out having teacher supervision was handy in stopping Oliver from keeping us all night. They always made us stop and go to dinner, something Oliver often ground his teeth over. 

But eventually, I'd started to improve. I could shoot the quaffle in the hoops a lot more reliably now, though if it was possible, it was often better to let the other two score since they were more reliable. But it was just the start, after that we seemed to do well. Oliver no longer carried on about missing Alicia and went back to 'this team is the best it's been in years'. 

"I swear," I muttered to Harry and the twins as we entered the common room. "If he wants another practice this week I'm going to shove a quaffle where the sun doesn't shine."

Harry gave me a huge grin. 

"Oh, it's okay for you, and for Katie," I murmured, stalking over to the stairs so I could go up to the dorms and get my work. "Just you wait, Harry, wait until you hit OWL year." As I stalked upstairs I swore I could hear George mutter about how I'd gone crazy, and while I wanted to double back and snap at him-- tell him he ought to be taking everything more seriously-- I had to focus on studying. Snape had set us an essay on moonstone, McGonagall and Flitwick wanted us to practice for their classes, Binns had also set us an essay but considering I'd fallen asleep in that class I had no idea what it was about and could only pray Angelina or someone else had been paying sufficient attention. And that was just the start of it.

Week by week work piled up. I managed to get through it (barely), by sacrificing sleep and often sacrificing eating properly. I would go to dinner because the twins would drag me down, with Angelina and Lee, but I was always the first to leave after eating a small plate of food. Angelina was always close behind me and we'd resume work in the common room. The fifth years were all getting rather stressed, and the only other person who seemed to be staying up so much was Hermione. The seventh years had just as much work but considering they had more free periods they had more time to get it done; though it was obvious when they'd had too much work, because Percy would take to snapping at anyone who was too loud in the common room.

The twins had helped me rule out more potential careers, too. We'd snuck out after curfew and had ducked into the prefect’s bathroom to hide from Snape on our way back from the kitchens, and on our way to prank Filch. He hovered the corridors around the bathroom for so long we'd just given up and decided to hang out there. I couldn't say it was the ideal hang out spot, but the late night and the thrill of almost being caught led to some interesting conversations.They’d ruled out pretty much everything one of us came up with. It left me feeling rather deflated.

"There's only one thing for it," George said gravely.

"What? I become a spinster with fifty cats?"

"No!" Fred sighed. "Honestly, I thought you were intelligent." I deadpanned him, and he grinned back. "You can work in our joke shop!"

"As riveting as working with you both would inevitably be, what would I even do? You two are the brilliant masterminds, and I hate paperwork. I'm not exactly organized-" I paused. "Of course, you wouldn't know that, you haven't seen the girls dorms." 

"I'm sure we'll find something for you," George said at length, this time sounding sincere and sympathetic. "Don't worry about it too much."

Fred shrugged. "There is another option."

We both looked at him.

"You marry a rich wizard or muggle-"

I hit his chest and laughed. "I'm not materialistic. I don't care about the money, I just..." I thought, what was the word I was looking for? "I just want to... feel fulfilled," I nodded. "And I'm sure having a family would add to that, but I want my own life first, y'know? I don't want to be old and  realise all I have to show for it is some kids-" I winced. "That sounds an awful thing to say."

Fred shook his head. "Not really, if you don't wanna have kids, you don't wanna."

"It's not don't want to," I said quickly. "Just not while I'm young. I feel like maybe I would resent them... I want to get out, see the world, have my own adventure for a bit-- if I had a husband and kids before I did that..." I sighed, feeling more and more rotten.

To distract me, they'd started a conversation about how Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of the year would be against Slytherin. It was full of warnings about their beaters, but reassurances that they wouldn't let them knock me (or Angelina or Katie) off my broom. I wasn't sure I felt reassured-- I was... well, tiny. A late bloomer, my mother said. Ridiculous, if you asked me. At least Selene understood; I was always terrified I would go home for the Summer and find her with breasts and hips and two heads taller than me.

When Snape had eventually gone far enough away, the three of us decided to head back to the common room and postpone the prank. I said goodnight to the pair of them and headed up to my dorm. I was thankful that I had a free period the following morning; I was exhausted and wanted sleep.

Summer really was the strangest Hufflepuff I knew. I was greeted by Hermione on the third Saturday of the month, informing me Summer was in the hospital wing. She didn’t sound worried, in fact the tone of her voice mirrored how I felt. Of course, I was concerned, to a point, but Summer spent more time there than in class. It had become somewhat of a joke she just wanted to be a healer, so she spent time trying to pick up tips from Madam Pomfrey. She was always climbing trees she shouldn't, or going places she absolutely shouldn't, or picking fights with Malfoy-- that one usually gave her detentions though. 

That was how I met Cedric Diggory, properly, for the first time.

As it turned out they'd been messing around during their Quidditch practice and the next thing she knew, she'd hit the ground. A bludger had hit her a bit too hard, entirely shattered the bones in her leg. She was fine-- laughing about it even, but Cedric was with her, apologising profusely. 

"Summer!"

He stopped his apologies, which I could hear from the entrance, and she grinned at me. "Wanna sign my cast?"

"No," I shook my head. "Madam Pomfrey will remove it before long." She just grinned more.

"Oh, Ced, this is Artemis," she said, looking between us. "She just joined the Gryffindor team as a chaser."

I paused. "If you weren't Hufflepuff’s I'd be worried right now you would try and sabotage me."

Cedric held up his hands. "No foul play here."

I smiled at him, sitting at Summer's side. "So how did you get hit by a bludger?"

"Well, it's kind of a funny story," she laughed. "I told Ced I could give him a run for his money as Seeker," she grinned now, patting his shoulder (maybe a bit too firmly since he flinched slightly). "So, we all swapped places, just for some fun. It really was fun, but Cedric is an awful beater and I was trying to pay attention to the snitch, so I didn't notice and then... wham!"

"I really am sorry," he said quickly, staring at her.

"No blood no foul."

"I broke your leg."

"The bludger broke my leg," she shrugged. "It's not the worst injury I had, and if it gets me out of potions on Monday I'm all for it."

"Yeah, because Snape is really going to let you off," I shook my head at her, then turned to Cedric. "How is OWL year treating you?"

Cedric laughed. "You have to ask? I've spent more time in the common room so far this year than I have all previous years combined."

Cedric was one of those people I never heard a bad thing about. He was one of the smartest in our year, not to mention talented. He was a good seeker, and popular too. He had a large group of friends, and many girls who were (as Summer put it) gaga for him. I could see why-- his good looks had improved over the holidays. It seemed rather ridiculous that a guy could be so perfect, but here he was. Maybe his fault was that he was just too nice, not that it was a bad thing at all, but he was probably the type to sacrifice himself for an enemy just to be kind. He was easy to talk to, though, and after Madam Pomfrey chased us out, he walked me down to dinner. We spoke for a bit-- first about classes, then about Quidditch, and then he bid me goodbye as he went over to his own table. 

"Why on earth were you with pretty boy Diggory?" Lee asked, a sly grin on his face as I took my seat next to him. Both twins looked up from opposite me. "All giggling too."

"I was not giggling," I sighed, shaking my head. "Summer is in the infirmary and he... kind of put her there."

Fred snorted. "Pretty boy Diggory did? What did he do? Be too kind to her?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Fred," George sighed. "She probably walked into something while he batted his eyelids."

I rolled my eyes. "Just because he's popular with girls is no reason to be jealous." They both fell silent and stared at me rather harshly. Beside me, Lee burst into laughter, choking on his pumpkin juice. "For your information he hit a bludger at her and she broke her leg."

"He hit a bludger? But he's a seeker."

"Hence why it didn't go too well," I laughed more. "They decided they would all swap rolls around, all because Summer wanted to try her hand at being a better seeker than Cedric. He's pretty nice, you know, you shouldn't judge him so much."

"Oh, we know he's nice, Arte," Fred said matter-o-factly, pulling his shoulders back to make himself taller. "But isn't it... boring? To be so nice? I can't see him pranking anyone. You should get yourself a guy who likes danger and adventure, Arte!"

I shrugged, piling some vegetables onto my plate. "Next time you hear from Charlie, ask him how he is for me."

Lee laughed again. "Oh, you're especially cruel tonight, Artemis."

George muttered, and Fred just sulked. "Well," he said at length. "This is still better than the idea Oliver has a crush on you."

"I thought we cleared this up," I sighed, patting Lee's back when he choked again. "The only thing he has a crush on is his broomstick, maybe Harry if he catches the snitch."

"Maybe who has a what now on me if I do what?" Harry asked, apparently hearing his name.

"Relax," Fred said dismissively. "We're just arranging your marriage to Oliver when you catch the snitch and win us the cup."

"Right... Thanks."

I grinned at him. "I'd say you could just not catch it, but then you have to deal with an angry Oliver. 'Harry, how could you? I trusted you! And now you do this to me?'"

Fred snickered. "Harry, I thought we had something special!"

Harry muttered, turning back to Ron.

It was the first time in a while I had stayed at dinner for so long, but it was nice. As I left with the twins, Neville quickly stopped me before we could reach the first set of stairs. I ushered the boys to go on ahead while I spoke with him. "What's up?"

"Summer is... okay... isn't she?"

I smiled warmly. "She's just fine, I'm sure she'd like to see you though."

"I-I don't know," he mumbled, occupying himself by staring at his shoelaces.

"She would!" I assured him. Summer was very fond of Neville; she was always upset she never got that many classes with the Gryffindor's because of it. She said she would happily work with him in any class, especially since he was the only one who would work with her in Herbology. If there was one subject Summer was awful at, it was that one. She tried, but she was allergic to a lot of the flora that Professor Sprout grew, and the venomous tentacula had a fondness for her. She always wanted to encourage him to be braver and more confident, but she never knew how to, or what words to say to him. I never pushed it; they were both still young, they had a lot of time to figure it out.

"R-right..." he cleared his throat, looking somewhat awkward. "T-thanks. I'll go see her in a bit."

As October carried on and Halloween arrived, I found myself coping a lot better with the workload. That was another way of saying I figured there were just some classes I didn't care about, and I couldn't see myself wanting a job which involved them. So, I'd started putting Divination and History of Magic onto the bottom of my list of priorities, often doing them last minute with no effort. Hermione was always quick to chastise me on this until I gave her a scathing look. Her mood was not good these days, her work and increased arguments with Ron seemed to push her to her limit. Poor girl. Yet, I had to give it to her, she never complained. About the workload anyway, I'd become a source for her to vent about Ron, at least until she realised I was going to snap at her, then she'd turned to Summer. Luckily, she had more patience, and was always willing to listen to Hermione.

Halloween was one of my favourite times of the year, so I was naturally high spirited for the entire week following up to it. I was less snappy, something I was sure the twins enjoyed quite a lot. They'd taken to doing some of their homework with me after I'd worried that they would fail; and while I knew they didn't care about their grades, I told them that they should at least try and pass, if not for their sakes, but for their mothers. "Besides," I said, as we headed down for the feast. "You need to pass so you can stay here for another two years."

"We don't want to-"

"I know you don't, Georgie," I frowned. "But you guys need money first, right? And test subjects-- what's better than innocent first years who aren't immune to your charms?" I shrugged at them. "You know I make a good point, especially the money part. Once you have some products finalised, you can sell them in school."

They didn't reply; they did know I was right.

I didn't want to nag them, and I really did support the joke shop and their dreams, and while I knew it was boring, I just wanted them to think sensibly about it for a bit. They had all these amazing ideas, and I understood that they just wanted to go and live that part of their life, but there were other things they had to do first. Plus, really, their mother would worry so much if they didn't pass their owls and dropped out. How would her son's make a living if the joke shop failed?

Luckily the conversation was soon forgotten over dinner. The Halloween feast was better than the start of term feast, in my opinion. It seemed the house elves had really outdone themselves too and I halted all conversation to eat as much as I could. Felix and Selene never believed me about the food, about the platters of it, the four long tables full of it, how it would just appear, how delicious it was. I wished they could be here to see it.

Suddenly, my appetite lessened. 

I missed them both. A lot. More than any previous year. I'd sent plenty of letters to both, and I knew I would see them both in just over a month when we went to the Hebrides for our Christmas holiday, but...

"You alright?" Fred asked from beside me. "It's not like you to stop eating during this feast."

I wanted to laugh, I really did, but I just managed to give him a small smile. "I miss Felix and Selene..." I admitted. "Sometimes I say things and stop, waiting for someone else to carry on... or it's tiring to talk about how I feel, and they both always just... know." I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. "Sometimes I wish I just went to muggle school with them."

"No, you don't," he said firmly. "You love it here, you say it almost every day, and what was it you said last year? You've never been so happy anywhere else. And they'd both agree with me, I know it."

"I know..."

He smiled at me, taking my hand and squeezing it softly. "Trust me, squirt," he grinned, dropping my hand and helping himself to some pumpkin pie. "I get it, though, I can't imagine being here without George. And you have two of them."

Lee snorted. "A scary thought, two Georgies."

"Could be worse," George said happily. "It could be two Fred's."

I snorted. "Or three Fred's."

"Three George's," Fred said firmly. "That's the worst."

"No, the worst is three Percy's."

The three of them collectively shuddered and I laughed softly. He was right, I knew he was. I did love it here, and I loved magic so much. I loved how there was always something new to discover, and I never got tired of being shocked at things; even if it could be kind of embarrassing at times. 

When everyone was content and full, Dumbledore ushered us all off to bed. "Merlin, I'm exhausted," I murmured, trailing slightly behind the three of them. Angelina laughed from beside me. "I didn't even do anything today."

"I don't know," Lee said from in front. "You sure ate a lot, probably used a lot of energy."

I hit his back gently. "You git, you're just jealous I can eat more than you."

"But where do you put it?" Angelina murmured. "You're so short-"

"Hey!" I frowned at her. "I eat that much because I'm still growing-" The twins laughed at me. "I am! Just you wait! When I finally hit a growth spurt, I'm going to make Hagrid look like Flitwick."

"Now that's a visual I never thought I'd have," Fred muttered.

The five of us laughed, lingering at the back of the line to get into the common room. There was an unusually large crowd, and it didn't seem to be moving. "What is going on?" I frowned. "Oi! Move it!"

"Yeah, get out the way," George said, trying to push through some kids.

"Don't be so mean," Ginny said, when he tried to push past her. "We can't get in, the Fat Lady's gone."

"What?" 

Ginny shrugged, and any reply was cut off by Dumbledore pushing through students. Despite the babble from curious students, his words were easily heard, as was Peeves' taunting about how Sirius Black had tried to get into the common room.

Silence set in.

Worry.

Fear.

Curiosity.

Everyone's faces held one of the three emotions, I wasn't sure about mine-- relief, maybe? We'd all been at the feast, keeping us effectively out of the reach of the mass murderer. Maybe it was worry-- how did he even get in? Past the dementors? I groaned, keeping close to the twins as we all headed back down to the great hall.

"A sleep over," Fred muttered. "Interesting."

"I guess you were wrong about Sirius Black," George said. "It's not Quidditch he hates enough to blow it up, it's the empty Gryffindor Common room."

I sighed, shaking my head. The five of us claimed a group of sleeping bags in the corner. All around us students were talking, more so when the other houses joined us. Summer was easy to spot; her eyes were wide, and face was entirely alert as she dragged a sleeping bag over to where we were. 

"Isn't this terribly exciting?"

"Summer, this is a mass murderer," Angelina frowned. "Someone could have been killed."

Summer shrugged. "I know, but no one was, right?" 

I looked over to where she'd come from with the other Hufflepuff's, just in time to catch Cedric's eye. He raised his hand in a greeting, a small smile forming on his lips. It took me a few seconds to realise he was greeting me, so I quickly return the smile and gesture. I could have been mistaken, but it looked for a second as though he was going to head towards me, but his friends got his attention instead.

"You know he asked after you," Summer said under her breath.

I jumped. "What?"

"Cedric. After the hospital. He came the day after to see how I was and he asked about you."

Fred snorted. "He probably just wants to know about the new chaser. Get some ideas."

He didn't mean it to sound like that, I was positive, but it still kind of hurt. Like it would be impossible Cedric just wanted to be my friend or something. I stayed quiet, taking the insult in silence, but Summer, however, did not. "Excuse me?"

"Well he's had five years to speak to Arte before," he muttered. "Now he's suddenly interested in her?"

"Cedric Diggory happens to be one of my closest friends," Summer sniffed, looking quite indignant and insulted. "He isn't the type to just... do that! And are you really saying there's nothing about Artemis, asides her new position on the team, which he would find interesting?"

"No, I wasn't-"

"You were."

I stared at George awkwardly. I didn't want them to fight. I put my hand on Summers arm. "Sum, he didn't mean it like that. I'm not upset-"

"Yes, you are," she stared down at me. She was furious. "I saw the look on your face when he said it. It hurt you."

"It's really nothing-"

"Yes, it is! Friends don't hurt each other like that," She looked back at Fred. "Apologise."

"What?! No! I didn't do anything. You heard her, she's not upset over it," Fred muttered. "Crazy."

"Crazy!?"

"Oh boy," I sighed, shaking my head. "Summer, come on. I mean, he's kind of right, isn't he? I've had herbology with Cedric for years, and charms but he's never said two words to me in the past. I didn't even exist to him before-" I squeezed her arm when she opened her mouth to cut me off. "I'm not saying he's just wanting to know about me, so he can defeat us in Quidditch, but come on, Sum, there's nothing about me which could interest him."

Summer's blue eyes stared at me. I squirmed under her gaze; you couldn't hide a single thing from her. "You're wrong, it's about time you see your worth!" She whipped around, bending down in front of Fred and pushing her finger to his chest. "And you better see her worth too!" And with that she snapped back up and turned, taking her sleeping bag towards Neville, who instantly went bright red. Honestly, how did they even have conversations? They would both stutter, forget their words, and awkwardly look away from one another.

Lee cleared his throat. "That was... awkward."

"Just a little," I mumbled, feeling quite deflated. I glanced back over to where Cedric was, but his back was to me now. Cedric wasn't curious about me for any other reason than I had been to visit Summer, and he just wanted to know about the friend of his friend. Nothing else to it.

"Bloody girls," Fred muttered angrily to George. Angelina shot him a look, pulling her sleeping bag closer to mine. "Where does she get off?" He mumbled some other things under his breath, something that sounded distinctly like 'she owes us'. 

"You know, Fred," Angelina suddenly snapped. "You can be a real git sometimes."

"What did I do now?!"

"Fred," George said, gripping his arm. "Just drop it for now. We're all tired and tense." Yet Fred just mumbled and pulled his sleeping bag a little way away. I tried to catch his eye to reassure him I wasn't hurt (even though some part of me was), but he never looked at me. Instead, I turned to George and gave him a small smile, one he returned. "You know Summer is right, you really should see your worth more."

I sighed. "I think I see it just fine, Georgie. I don't think Cedric wants to know about me just for Quidditch, but I don't really fit in with his other type of friends, do I?" I chuckled. "I know Fred didn't mean anything by it. Summer just..." I shrugged. "I honestly don't know what got into her. I guess she's so used to retaliating to Malfoy she heard what she wanted to."

"I don't know," Angelina murmured. "I'd have been pissed if it was me. That was out of order, that comment. Even if he didn't mean it that way, he could have phrased it better."

This was going nowhere. "Come on, let's not fight, okay?" I asked softly. "Like George said, we're all tired and on edge from Sirius Black. Let's just forget about it all and sleep. Act like it never happened." I glanced over to Fred and cleared my throat. "G'night, Freddie."

For a while he was still and silent, and I thought perhaps he had fallen asleep. "Night, squirt," he said at length.

I smiled, snuggling down into my own sleeping bag. It was weird to sleep with so many students, weirder to think Malfoy was on the other side of the hall. George was very distracting, though. He was next to me, and facing me, and kept pulling faces. I giggled every now and then, having to muffle my laughter when Percy shot over and snapped about how we should all be sleeping. "G'night," I mouthed at him.


	4. Friends

The week leading up to the Quidditch match was a nightmare. The weather was awful, and only seemed to be getting worse, so the Slytherin team had decided to argue that Malfoy’s injury was still bad, and therefore he was unable to fly because of it. Ridiculous. Instead, we would be playing Hufflepuff for our first match. Oliver seemed more relaxed about this, but he was still pushing us hard. He wasn’t the only one though. Snape and McGonagall had been getting more and more strict as lessons went on, Snape always taking time to remind us that since he only accepted NEWT students with an O in their OWL’s, he would inevitably, say goodbye to most of us at the end of the year. The twins were always quick to mutter under their breath that it couldn’t come quicker. McGonagall just pressed on us all the importance of these exams and expected us to all be progressing quicker on vanishing spells, so we could start on summoning one’s quicker, as they were both important in the OWL’s. 

Herbology was probably the most laid-back lessons now. While Professor Sprout was still firm with us and challenging us, she didn’t seem to be giving us the same speeches now we were so far into term. It wasn’t really the only reason either. The first Herbology lesson with the Hufflepuff’s after Halloween, Cedric moved to work next to me. 

“Hey, Artemis.”

“Oh, Cedric,” I smiled up at him. “Not put Summer into a coma yet?”

“Not yet,” he smiled ruefully. “So, we’re going to be playing each other.”

Fred who was opposite us scoffed, only stopping when George elbowed him, and I glared at him. Honestly. “Seems that way,” I said quietly. 

“I look forward to it.”

Fred’s face was a picture. He hadn’t expected that, I don’t think. Without a reason to dislike Cedric’s intentions with me now, he just went back to sulking for some other reason. Honestly, what a child. “Me too,” I said to Cedric. “Though I’m nervous, since this is my first game, but at least you guys won’t play dirty like the Slytherins.”

“Is Malfoy’s arm really that bad? I would have thought Madam Pomfrey could fix it up in a jiffy,” he frowned, jumping when the venomous tentacula nipped at him. “Stupid plant.”

I laughed, hitting it from him. “You need Summer here, it goes for her all the time. She hates it, even if she’s on the other side of the room, it still somehow gets her,” I shook my head. “Malfoy is just milking it, they don’t want to play in this horrible weather.” We’d all gotten soaked on the way down to the greenhouses, thankfully the hot-air charm existed so we could dry off. It would be the same going back up for Defence. 

“I can’t blame them,” he said at length. “Listen, there’s something I wanted to as- “

“OUCH!” I jumped, turning around to hit the plant off me. “Stupid damn plant, why does Professor Sprout keep you around?” I hit it again when it went for another go. Fred snickered at me. “Oh yes, Fred, very funny.”

“It’s kinda funny,” he grinned. 

“Yeah, Arte,” George laughed. 

“Shove off,” I muttered, rubbing my arm and looking back up at Cedric. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said quickly, going back to the plant we were working on together. I stared at him for a few moments but decided not to push it; if it was important, he would bring it up again. I was just glad I seemed to have made another friend. 

Lupin was another teacher who didn’t keep on about how important OWL’s were. We all knew it, so what was the point in being reminded over, and over again? His classes were always fun too; he had inventive ways to teach us, often bringing in actual creatures for us to work with. When we’d expressed interest in the Boggart, too, after hearing what he’d done with the third years, he found one for us too. We’d had Quirrell when we were learning about them, and he was much too terrified to bring us one. It had been a fun class. The boggart had turned into myself, with the head girl badge, looking very Percy-like. Fred and George fell around in fits that my biggest fear was turning into Percy. I didn’t really see the humour in it, even when the pair of them started doing impressions of it afterwards.

“What a ridiculous thing to even fear,” I muttered, sitting down rather angrily at dinner. “Why couldn’t it be something impressive?”

“What’s that about?” Hermione raised an eyebrow at me. 

“Arte is just sulky because Lupin got us a boggart,” George laughed. Fred was in fits again. “It turned into herself, but herself if he became like Percy.”

“I don’t see what’s so bad,” she said quickly. “He’s intelligent, gets good grades, he’s head boy….”

I stared at her as though seeing her for the first time. “Hermione, he’s awful,” I muttered. “He hasn’t got an ounce of humour or fun in him, and paperwork and a desk job? Merlin that’s awful. I’m glad I’m not prefect, that’s never been me.” I turned back to the twins who were still laughing. “Yes, so funny.”

“Sorry, Arte,” George said, giving me his winning smile. “It’s not fair of us to laugh at your expense, first the venomous tentacula, then the Boggart.”

“Yes, well,” I sniffed, grabbing a baked potato. “You’re not charming yourself out of this one Mr. Weasley.”

By the next day, however, I was laughing about it too. The previous evening Percy had snapped at a few first years for playing explosive snap too loud in he common room, I had joined in with him until I realised, to my horror, what I was doing. Lee found it funny to play a game with George when we went up to their dorm after. Angelina had laughed so much at my expression, even more when I’d asked them to promise me they would have an intervention if it ever got serious.

The morning of the Quidditch match I felt awful. I tried to block out everyone, but all I was able to do was pick up on whenever my name was said. It was mostly just ‘good lucks’, but as I sunk down in between the twins for breakfast I wished I could disappear. I could hear Summer over on the Hufflepuff table, regaling them with some loud and hilarious story because they were all laughing. I looked over to see Cedric staring at us, then when he noticed me looking, gave me a charming smile. I’d choked on my pumpkin juice.

“Don’t die!” Fred said quickly, patting my back. “Are you really that nervous?”

“Y-yes,” I said quickly, not wanting him to know the reason why I’d reacted that way. I’d spoken with Cedric a few times this week too, after charms which we had together, and then on the way to lunch another day. I couldn’t even remember what we’d spoken about, but he was kind, and kind of funny. In a different way to the twins, for sure, but Cedric had his own charm. My cheeks turned red as I thought about it. Merlin… was it possible I liked him? I was at the age to start noticing boys like that, and of course I had crushes on people before, but this was liking someone. Was it possible? I groaned. Out of all people, why was it Cedric? He was the unobtainable one for someone like me. He was practically perfect in every way, and I—well… I was anything but.

The thoughts just made me feel sicker, and I left breakfast after forcing down a few spoonsful of porridge, and only because Angelina practically forced it down me. She and Katie ended up dragging me out of the hall when Malfoy started talking loudly about the game, claiming we could just change into our Quidditch robes before the boys. I felt like I was on autopilot as I did it. My mind was so full of everything—

“Artemis!”

I jumped out of my skin, staring wide eyed up at Angelina. “Y-yes?”

“You’ve got your jumper the wrong way.”

“Oh!” I blushed furiously, quickly fixing it. How embarrassing… “Thanks.”

“You really are nervous, aren’t you?” Katie said, staring at me sympathetically.

I wished Selene was here, I wanted to talk to someone about Cedric, to get that off my chest. Maybe it would help a lot. It was odd, I didn’t keep much from the twins, seeing as they were my best friends; and even to a point, I told Summer most things, but I didn’t want to talk to any of them about this. Instead I sat down, staring at Angelina. She was a friend of mine, a good one too; I liked her a lot. She was my age— “I think I like Cedric Diggory and I don’t know what to do about it,” I blurted out quickly.

Both girls stared at each other with a confused look, before Angelina sat next to me. “Do you think he likes you back? He’s been talking to you a lot. He even moved to work next to you in herbology the other day.”

“I-I don’t know,” I said quietly. “It’s Cedric Diggory isn’t it? If you’d asked me if I would even be his friend—a-and I mean I don’t even know him well, but I really want to—really… really want to—oh what am I supposed to do?”

Angelina smiled, squeezing my shoulder. “Well, don’t tell Fred because he’s going to come up with a conspiracy theory and it’ll end with him attacking Cedric during Quidditch.” I grimaced. “We can talk about it more later,” she said, standing up as the boys flooded into the changing rooms. “Just focus on the match for now.”

I felt a lot better when we were out in the fresh air. Oliver went on again about how important this match was, though none of us voiced how difficult it was to even see in this weather. Rainy wasn’t the word for it, it was down right miserable. I didn’t feel bad for Harry having to find the snitch in this weather. 

As such, I was barely able to see much during the match. It was difficult for the three of us to keep track on what was going on unless we had the quaffle, but we had to be so close to each other to pass it. Luckily it seemed to turn on the Hufflepuff’s too, because they would need to be closer to intercept, making it harder on them. Between the three of us, we managed to score some, but so did the Hufflepuff chasers. Summer would give me a cheeky grin whenever she stole the quaffle from me, one which I returned when I managed to take it from her. Eventually, I relaxed up, mostly because of the weather. No one was playing well, but it didn’t seem to matter; we were all doing our best, and… to a point, truthfully, it was kind of fun. At one point I had almost flown into Cedric, to which he’d just grinned and said if I wanted his attention there were much easier ways to get it. 

I wasn’t even sure of the score by the time Oliver called a time out. Katie seemed to be the most wet out of all of us and was shivering quite badly. “What’s going on,” Harry called, as he came over to us.

“We have to finish this quick,” Oliver muttered. “It’s difficult to stop anything going into the goals.”

“It’s hard to pass too,” Angelina spoke up. “If we have possession, we can fly closer to each other but- “she paused, watching as Hermione rushed over and cast an impervious spell on Harry’s glasses. Honestly, why hadn’t any of us thought of that?

“That should help,” she smiled at us, quickly leaving.

Oliver nodded. “Harry, do what you have to, but we need to end quickly.”

The time out just seemed to make it worse. Angelina was muttering to herself when she passed to me, the Hufflepuff beaters were focusing on her since she’d taken all the successful shots, and she was not impressed with it. It was hard to see them coming in this weather. I just gave her an encouraging smile and passed to Katie, then flew off trying to get a good view on what was going on. I found myself near George who was hovering to the side. 

“Can’t see a damn thing!” he yelled over the rain. 

“They’re really focusing Angelina,” I called back.

“What?”

“I said they’re focusing on Angelina!”

“Right,” he frowned, looking worried. “Well, we’ll sort it—be careful- “

He broke off and I wondered why until I followed his gaze. I wanted to joke about Dementors being extra players, I wanted to make a comment about them being the new balls, I wanted to do anything to make myself laugh, but I couldn’t. I hated them, and when Harry fell off his broom the same time Madam Hooch blew her whistle—

Cedric had caught the snitch, but it didn’t matter- Harry!

I sped through the air trying to get to him, so he didn’t hit the ground, but thankfully Dumbledore or some other teacher, had slowed him down so he wouldn’t die from the fall. I managed to grab him before he hit the ground, though he was already out cold. He looked… awful. Dumbledore’s Patronus charm had already chased them off, yet I looked around to make sure they weren’t anywhere to be seen. 

“Is he okay?” Angelina asked, landing beside me. McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Madam Hooch were approaching quickly too. I noticed Ron and Hermione just behind them, and Cedric and Summer approached too. 

“He’s okay I think,” I frowned, watching as Hooch moved him onto a stretcher.

“I didn’t know-“ Cedric said, sounding guilty. The snitch was firmly in his hand. “I wouldn’t have caught it—we can have a rematch-“

“No,” Oliver said firmly, his voice monotone. “You guys won fair and square.”

Cedric watched as he stalked off. Poor Oliver looked so dejected, I almost felt bad for him, yet this wasn’t the time to worry about that. “Is he okay?” Cedric asked. “Is Harry okay?”

“Harry will be fine, I think,” I rubbed my neck, walking into the entrance to the changing rooms. Summer was talking very quickly with Hermione and Ron about Harry, heading off with the Gryffindor team to see to him. “I should-“

“There’s a Hogsmeade trip… next week,” Cedric said suddenly. “I wondered if… maybe we could go together? If you wanted.”

I froze.

Was he asking me out as friends? Or on a date? He sounded nervous, and he was looking at me hopefully—I blushed more. Was it possible he liked me? Yet it brought up a whole set of new worries; what did you do on a date? What should I wear? What if he wanted to kiss me or… or something? “I-I would like that, Cedric.”

He visibly relaxed, letting out a small breath. “Good… great even,” he nodded. “I’ll… let you go see how Harry is—I really… wouldn’t have caught it… had I known, I didn’t see-“

“It’s okay, Cedric, it’s not your fault,” I smiled up at him. “I’ll see you later.”

How I managed to get up to the hospital wing without spontaneously combusting from joy and nerves, I have no idea. I put my worry for Harry at the forefront of my feelings, but the happiness and the nervousness burst through even that. Was this really happening?

“Took your time,” Fred said, when I finally joined them. Harry was out cold. 

“How is he?”

“He’s fine,” George said. “His broomstick though—hit the whomping willow.”

“Oh…” I frowned. “That’s… unfortunate. At least it wasn’t him who hit it. Where’s Oliver?”

“Taking a shower,” Fred laughed. “Oliver isn’t really taking it well, he knows it’s not Harry’s fault, he’ll come around once it’s sunk in.”

“We really would be fine for a rematch,” Summer said quickly. 

“No, it’s fine. Oliver will get used to it.”

Angelina was staring at me. I blushed, remembering what I had confessed to her earlier—“Err,-“

“Why are you blushing?”

“What?”

“Oh, you are,” Summer said, getting close to my face. “You stayed behind to talk with Ced… what happened?” she asked, suddenly grinning.

“Nothing!”

“Mmhmm,” Angelina grinned. “What happened?”

Fred snorted. “If she said it was nothing-“

“Piss off,” Summer muttered. “Something happened!”

“I- well… I don’t… uh,” I stared at them, feeling at quite a loss, and feeling awkward with Fred and George there. Hermione was watching curiously, Ron was just helping himself to the chocolate frogs which had been left for Harry already. “Cedric asked me to… go with him for the next Hogsmeade weekend.”

“What?!” The three of them yelled all at once.

George was the only one to ask an actual question. “As in a date?”

“I-I don’t know, he didn’t specify,” I mumbled. “But I… I have no idea what to do,” I stared at Angelina and Summer, feeling my eyes growing wider. “I have no clue at all—I’m so pathetic and-“

“No, you’re not,” Summer cut me off, giggling to herself. “It’s cute. You like him, so you’re nervous about it. That’s all. See, I told you he likes you!” She then shot a look at Fred. “And it was nothing to do with Quidditch.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Guys, come on, don’t fight,” George said. I gave him a thankful smile. 

Hufflepuff beating us didn’t make Fred like Cedric any more than before, even George wasn’t as nice about him either afterwards. Summer pointed out, a few times, that Cedric had offered a rematch, but Oliver had declined, and if they were going to sulk about them winning, then they were just children who needed to grow up. I wondered if that was all of it—Fred very obviously had an issue with Cedric, when I’d asked George about it, he said even Fred had no idea why. He’d just never liked him. He put it down to just being worried for me—

“We see you as a sister,” George said, as I sat with him in the common room. Fred had gone off with Angelina to the kitchens to get us some drinks. We all had a lot of homework to crack through and they’d both decided we needed supplies. “I guess he doesn’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Cedric’s not exactly known for being a playboy though,” I laughed at the idea. “The only way I could be hurt was if I liked him and he didn’t like me back—but if he asked me out he must like me a bit, right?”

George just shrugged. “I suppose that’s true. Fred just doesn’t express it well. He doesn’t… hate Cedric, he’s never liked him, I guess, but… well the only thing that would be worse was if it was Ginny instead of you.”

I shuddered. “Would she even be allowed in the same room?”

“No,” he said quickly. “She’s too young for him.”

“It’s only four years,” I said simply. “My dad is five years older than my mother.”

George groaned, slumping down on the sofa so he was lying across it. I was sat cross legged in the armchair, my essay for Hagrid sprawled on top of the open book in my lap. “Please don’t put that image in my head, Cedric Diggory and my sister getting married. I don’t want him as a brother-in-law.”

“What’s this?”

I looked up at Fred, laughing when he just stared dumbly at George. “Cedric and Ginny?”

“It’s hypothetical,” I said quickly. “I was just making a point; besides, she likes Harry, anyway doesn’t she?”

“Yes,” Fred mumbled. 

Angelina rolled her eyes, hanging me a warm mug of cocoa. I smiled happily, almost inhaling it. Widget made the best cocoa, I was always thankful to her for it. “We went past the trophy room to see how Lee was,” She said. “Since he’s doing his detention.”

“Yeah?”

Fred laughed. “He was plotting Snape’s downfall in there, Filch overheard and gave him another night of detentions. Poor guy.”

“Ouch.”

Eventually, I decided I was not getting anymore work done, and put it to the side. Instead, I wrote letters back home; making sure to tell Selene and Felix in depth about Cedric. It was odd, this time the previous year, I’d only just started becoming friends with the twins, and now….

George was spread out on the sofa while Fred sat on the floor in front of him, both talking loudly about some product ideas. Angelina was at the table with her work spread out. If I’d never spoken to them last year… I would probably be asleep right now, oblivious to this all. Yet, even so, I would still possibly be going on a date with Cedric. Summer would still have gotten injured from him, and I would still have met him then…. It was nice. Lee and Angelina were my friends too, of course, but I’d met them through the twins. The only other friend I’d made of my own accord was Summer. I wonder if some other way I would have made friends with the twins if I hadn’t spoken to them. Or, maybe it just wouldn’t last. Maybe it was a friendship until the end of school and then that was that. 

The idea unsettled me. I didn’t want to think that. That wasn’t to say they’d had such a profound affect on my life that it was impossible to imagine it without them, it was just more… they were important to me and I didn’t want to be without them. There was always laughter while they were around, and while Cedric, even Summer were funny… they just didn’t light up a room like Fred and George could. 

“Hello? Squirt?”

“Sorry, what?”

Fred stared at me then shook his head. “Daydreaming about pretty boy Diggory I guess.” I didn’t reply, I didn’t want him to know the truth was it was more like I was daydreaming about them both. Of course, it wasn’t so much daydreaming as it was just thinking, but… “We said we should sleep, it’s pretty plate.”

I checked my watch and swore. “It is.” Luckily it was a Saturday night (or rather a Sunday morning) and we could afford to have the late night. Yet I felt uneasy. It was as if something had changed, or like something was going to change, like something would happen which was just going to shift everything. I couldn’t explain it. “Hey, boys,” I said, pausing before I headed into the girls’ room. Angelina had gone in already.

“Yes?”

“We’re going to be friends after school, right?” I looked back at them. “I mean when we’re old and have jobs and families we’re going to hang out still and talk about the good old’ days, right?”

They both shared a look of surprise. “I guess so, there’s no reason for us to not be friends later,” George shrugged. “Good night,” he added, heading into their room. 

Fred, however, lingered. He was staring at me curiously, as if it had dawned on him that we were older than we thought, that the rest of our lives were only a few years away. Like he hadn’t given any thought to it before this—“Artemis-“ He never used my full name, it was always odd hearing him use it. “I’m sorry about how I acted with Cedric—I don’t suppose I’ll ever like him but-“

“I know… George said,” I shrugged. “I get it, I think.”

“You sound like you’re going to vanish,” he said. “Like if you go into that room and shut the door….”

“I do?” I frowned. “But Fred, even if I was old enough to apparate, you can’t do it on Hogwarts grounds.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Of course, how could I forget that fact?”

I grinned. “Fred?”

He looked back over his shoulder. “Yes?”

“I’m really glad we’re friends.”

He paused for a moment, then smiled. “You know what? Me too. I’m glad we saved you from being Percy.” We both laughed. “Good night, Arte.”

“Night, Freddie.”

I hurried into the dorm and sighed softly. Angelina was already in bed with the curtains drawn around it. Truthfully, I felt like I wanted to talk to her, but I wasn’t sure what about. I felt… lonely? Was that the right word? I didn’t see how that was possible considering I’d been with my friends all day. As I sunk into bed I reminded myself it would only be a few weeks now until the holidays and I would be with Felix and Selene again, maybe I just missed them, and at the very least, I could trust both to help me through it all.


	5. Cedric

The problem with sneaking out after curfew so often was that we would inevitably end up being caught. The twins and I had been on our way back from the kitchens, so we had left the map behind. Usually we had no issues on this particular ‘run’, and it would have been as usual, had we not run into Percy near the portrait. He had just stared at us, and for a moment I had thought he was considering acting like he hadn’t seen anything, but as the fat lady swung open, his chest puffed out.

“The three of you are in deep trouble.”

“Shove off, Perce,” George muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We just wanted to take Artemis to get dinner—she’s been skipping because-“

“Yes,” Percy sniffed. “As admirable as your intentions may have been, you are still out after curfew without permission. You are already on thin ice after last year, and so far, this year you have filled Filch’s draws with rabbits, turned Mrs. Norris into a toad-“ he turned to me, frowning, and then looked back at the twins. “I’m going to have to tell McGonagall, and I’m writing to our mother about this too.”

“Arwh, come on, Percy,” Fred said. “Hand us into Snape if you want to, but you don’t have to write to her.”

“Oh yes I’m afraid I do,” he said, firmly, looking quite terrifying. I moved closer to George, almost fearful that Percy would manifest into some form of dragon. “This is your OWL year, you are not taking it seriously! I’ve heard you muttering about these so-called products for this joke shop you want, you’re not studying, and I have it under good authority that you didn’t even hand in your last homework for-“

“We don’t care.”

“Stop being so selfish,” he snapped. “You’re also getting Artemis mixed up in all of this too, you realise? Distracting her from her studies.”

“Did you not hear what we-“

“I did,” Percy interrupted. There was silence, then he looked at me. “Artemis, I’m willing to not hand your name in if you promise you will cease your association with my younger brothers. They are only bad news! You should have been prefect.”

I felt the twins’ eyes on me wondering what I would do. Was I going to abandon them? Of course not! I felt disgusted at the idea. I stared at Percy, feeling rather like I didn’t know who he was. I’d gotten on well with him in the past, but he’d never stuck me as this type of person.I knew the twins picked on him, I knew he snapped at them; they didn’t have a particularly good relationship, but I had never thought any of it would be malicious. “When you write to your mother, _Percy_ , do tell her that your brothers were making sure I ate since I’ve been skipping meals, so I can study,” I said quietly, moving closer to the warm bodies of Fred and George. I felt like I needed the reassurance, but I was also worried I might hit him or… well….

“Artemis, I’m just looking out for your best-“

“My best interests?” I snapped. “No, you’re not and even if you were, you have no idea what my best interests are! If you did, you would know I value my friendship with Fred and George more than some stupid grades. They’re your family, Percy, maybe you should try and believe in them!” I jabbed my finger into his chest, trying to make myself taller than I was, yet even as he stared down at me, hard and firm, determination brimming in his eyes, I refused to falter or seem weak. “When they have a world-famous joke shop and so much business they’re going to have no time for anything else, you’re going to feel really silly for not believing in them!”

Percy just glared down at me, then without another word, stormed into the common room and straight up to his dorm. I had no doubt McGonagall would be worse, but at least she wasn’t going to be a foul git about it.

“You mean that, Arte?” George murmured. “You could have agreed to stop associating with us, we wouldn’t have minded.”

“But I would have,” I said quickly. “I meant it, you two are important to me. How could I live with myself if I threw my friends under a bus to save myself?” I shook my head, shoulders falling back. I felt exhausted. “Please, make sure your mother knows it was my fault you were both out late.”

They both shrugged. I knew they wouldn’t; they’d let Percy tell her whatever he wanted to. They didn’t particularly care very much either way. She would be disappointed in them, tell them to give up their plans, focus on their grades and do whatever they wanted to with their free time after Hogwarts. It was logical reasoning, yet I felt rather angry no one seemed to have faith in them. If they just, for one moment, listened to the pair of them talk about their aspirations and goals… the passion, the sincerity in their voice; I didn’t see how anyone could doubt them after hearing it.

Of course, the morning after, McGonagall was furious. When I told her why we were out, which Percy had seemingly forgotten to add, she seemed to go easier on the twins. “You should have gotten permission instead of taking it into your own hands!” she said to them. “It’s absolutely irresponsible, especially with Sirius Black-“ She inhaled to stop herself. “Detention, both of you. And twenty points each from Gryffindor-“ then she looked at me, a grim look on her features. “It is irresponsible to skip meals, even at busy times like this. Good reason or not,” her eyes flicked to the boys and her lip twitched. She probably found it amusing that they’d broken a rule for this kind of reason for once, maybe she was even pleased to be telling them off for this, rather than anything else they could have done. “You were still out after curfew. Detention, and thirty points from Gryffindor. I hope this will help you in making more sensible choices in the future.”

When it came to serve our detentions, I got lucky. George got stuck with Snape which seemed rather cruel, and Fred was with McGonagall which meant he was probably just doing his homework. Secretly I decided that was probably a good idea. I ended up with Professor Lupin. I had been anxious at first as to what he would make me do, after all he was a new professor, and while he was a kind person, he didn’t take any nonsense from anyone in the class. It just turned out I would be helping him grade some first and third year essays. I was rather shocked he would trust me to do it, but he seemed to have faith in me. “How do you know I didn’t fail these essays?” I laughed at him, reading over what Summer had written about Grindylows. “And how do you trust me to be fair to my friends’ essays?”

He just chuckled. “You’re intelligent when you apply yourself, you could stand to pay more attention. You’d get good grades if you did,” he paused. “And I trust you to be fair because you know they would gain nothing from a falsely good mark, they wouldn’t learn.”

I sighed deeply. He was right. Ron’s essay was confusing, he’d stopped and started it, and a few times I could tell he’d just read from Hermione’s essay since he’d stop rambling and go onto a particularly bright piece of writing. Hermione’s was, of course, perfect. To my surprise, so was Malfoy’s. As much as I wanted to mark him down for being an insufferable git, I couldn’t. I always wondered what kind of person he would have become had his parents not been so against ‘mudbloods’. Would he be more accepting?

“Professor McGonagall tells me you aren’t sure what to do after graduation.”

I looked over at Lupin and nodded vaguely. “I ruled out a lot of things, though. It helps, I suppose…” I sighed. “Nothing jumps out at me, and there’s nothing I’m particularly good at, not to the standard of being outstanding in it.”

“As I said, if you applied yourself, your grades would be good. You’re very intelligent,” he said earnestly. “You pay exceptional attention to small details most others overlook, I was rather impressed on your last essay on counter jinxes.”

I smiled at him. It wasn’t often teachers complimented me, the first few years they’d just mostly ignored me, apart from Flitwick and Kettleburn who had always been so positive and brimming with praise for most students. Since last year, though, I’d been getting the same lecture about paying attention. But that was the thing, I liked learning things, especially about magic, I was insufferably curious, as my mother had put it, but I hated studying. I didn’t learn things from books or by writing about them, but instead by experiencing them and going for a more hands on approach. I suppose that was why my better classes were potions, defence, and care of magical creatures. Though Snape’s class had a lot of book work too, when it came to make the potions, I rarely did it wrong. I’d never been subject to one of his snide remarks or scathing glares which he often gave the twins. Charms and Transfiguration were okay, but they required a lot of theory behind them to make them work; especially transfiguration.

“And what about Fred and George? What do they plan to do?”

“They want to open a joke shop with their own products,” I said quickly. “They have some amazing ideas and almost everything planned out, though things keep changing. They have a picture in their mind of how they want the store to look, but sometimes they disagree on placement of products and it’ll change,” I hummed softly, smiling fondly as I thought about them. “I don’t think anyone takes their idea seriously.”

“I can see why,” he commented. “It isn’t very practical.”

“No, I agree,” I agreed. “But there’s just something about the way they talk about it which just makes you believe in them, you know?” I smiled warmly at him. “Something that makes you root for them.”

He laughed. “They are rather charismatic.”

Yes, charismatic would be the word to describe them both. I knew the teachers felt it too, despite how loud and boisterous they were, despite the trouble they got into, most of them were rather fond of Fred and George. 

“You are a very good flyer.”

I looked up at Lupin, blushing softly. “T-thankyou. That was my first match, but I don’t think I did too well,” I laughed softly. “The rain made it difficult for everyone.”

“It’s a shame about the loss.”

“I suppose,” I frowned down at the first years essay I was holding. “I’d rather have lost than Harry get killed though, that was awful. I hate those dementors.”

“We all do,” he said softly.

“I wanted to laugh about them, you know? Kind of like a Boggart, if you laugh at it, it isn’t as scary any more, but… I just can’t seem to do it with them. I can’t make a single joke about them.”

He was silent for a few moments. “That’s natural, they take away the joy and happiness in our lives. If your joy and happiness is from laughter and humour, then it would make sense.”

I shifted, focusing on the essay. I wondered how they made Fred and George feel, their life was all about laughter. Not just their own, but others around them. If they saw a single person in trouble, they’d do anything to make the atmosphere better. It probably came from being the middle children, in such a large family they didn’t have many ways to stand out, and they had three elder brothers who were brilliant in their own ways. How were they to stand out and get attention? By being loud, by being funny. They didn’t solve people’s problems, instead they just brightened their mood enough that they didn’t feel so bad about it anymore. Again, I was stuck with how lucky I was to be their friend.

Professor Lupin was merciful and let me leave soon after, so I still had a few hours before curfew. I studied a bit in the library, finishing up a few essays and then headed back to the common room. Fred was there, looking annoyed, but George was nowhere to be seen. “George still with Snape?”

“Yeah… how was Lupin?”

“He was alright,” I shrugged, sitting on the couch next to him. Crookshanks jumped into my lap and I laughed, running my fingers through his fur. “I just marked some essays and talked with him. He let me go early too.”

“Lucky,” he muttered. “McGonagall gave me a real earful about studying and grades and OWL’s and our futures. As if we don’t get it enough from mum. I know they mean well….”

“But it’s disheartening when nobody believes in you,” I finished for him. “I believe in you, and so does Lee. I’m sure Angelina would too. If anyone could make it work, it’s going to be the pair of you. I truly mean it, too, I’m not just saying it.”

“I think you give us too much credit sometimes,” he breathed, running his fingers through his hair. “Sometimes I wonder if George and I aren’t being ridiculously idiotic and we’re doomed for failure. Mum is scared we’re going to end up in Azkaban, what if she’s right?”

It was rare to hear him talk like this, with no laughter in his face at all. I moved closer, so we could talk easier in the crowded common room. “Fred, they don’t throw people in Azkaban for pranks and jokes,” I sighed. “I know that’s not what you meant, but I don’t think you, nor George, could ever do something bad enough to end up there. No matter how desperate you were I don’t think you’d ever hurt someone or steal something. You’re troublemakers, not criminals. You both have big hearts even if you don’t show it,” I smiled more at him. “There will be a way to make it work, you’ll see.”

Fred shook his head, laughing. “Maybe you could convince mum for us. I hate to think what she’s going to say when Percy writes to her.”

“Percy is bang out of order,” I snapped quickly. “If you want I could talk to her-“

“I was joking.”

“I know, but still,” I smiled weakly at him. I felt guilty for them getting into trouble, and though this was nothing to the things they’d been in trouble for before, and their punishments were normal and not anything as bad as what they’d had before, this one just seemed… heavy, on Fred anyway. When George returned he was as bright as he could have been, going into a full-blown rant about Snape and what he’d made him do. It was enough to distract Fred, at least, and by the end of the night they’d both gone to sleep with a smile back on their faces.

The last two weeks of classes passed quickly. That was to say I had no time to do anything. I wanted to do my homework before the holiday period, so I could enjoy the family holiday more, and as such between homework, packing, and Quidditch practice I had no time to breathe. Fred and George always dragged me to dinner and forced me to eat what they deemed was sufficient for a ‘growing girl’ before they’d even let me return to the common room or library. They were also very supportive, and a few times they’d even studied with me in the library. They knew I hated studying, and while I was sure they weren’t researching for their essays, the company was nice, even if Madam Pince did keep watching them suspiciously as though she expected them to unleash dung bombs everywhere. 

Summer, however, added more to my worries a few days before my date with Cedric. Or, well, meeting—whatever it was. She’d had Angelina sneak her into the Gryffindor girls’ dormitories, so she could pick out outfits from my trunk. Honestly, it was ridiculous. I was positive Cedric knew what I looked like, and I voiced that, until both had pointed out he’d only seen me in school robes or Quidditch robes. In the end I just let them do what they wanted; it would be easier and quicker to just agree with them. I had to admit, they were thankfully practical about it. Thick snow had fallen the past few weeks, and to match they’d picked a pair of jeans, a plain white blouse, and a thick, oversized pink sweater which I could wear under my coat, but also take off if I got too warm. Summer wanted to fuss over ‘make up’ and my hair, but Angelina had rightly sensed my patience ended there and had dragged her off, telling her that if Percy or a teacher caught her in the Gryffindor common room, we’d all be in deep trouble. I had no idea about makeup and I’d just planned on leaving my hair down. It had grown a bit since Summer and went well past my chin now, usually I clipped it back to keep it from my face while working, I didn’t see the reasoning behind styling it all the time.

That didn’t stop her from fussing the morning of the trip though. She’d hurried over to the Gryffindor table and had sat next to me, talking highspeed about it all. Angelina had, thankfully, dragged her off before she could make me nervous. 

“Crazy,” Fred said, sounding confident in his observation. I was inclined to agree and just gave him a weak smile. He squinted at me. “Do you have makeup on?”

I choked on my pumpkin juice. “Just eyeliner and mascara,” I said weakly. “I-is it too much?”

“No,” he muttered, returning to his eggs.

George rolled his eyes. “You look nice, Arte, don’t let this idiot make you doubt that.”

“Thanks, Georgie.” Yet I felt sick suddenly. My hands were clammy and eventually I pushed my porridge away. I knew if I asked Fred he would somehow find a way to make it, so I had to visit Madam Pomfrey to get out of it, but I realised that wouldn’t be very fair on Cedric. It wasn’t anything against him, maybe the exact opposite. I just didn’t feel like I belonged even as his friend, let alone—on a date with him. 

Then I decided that it would be very cowardly to run away, and that I should calm down. The worst that happened was that the date went awfully, I valued my friendship with Cedric, as new as it was, and I hoped he felt the same, so that if things didn’t work, maybe we’d at least be able to remain friends. Maybe I was naïve, but I wasn’t going to talk myself out of it.

“We’re going to give Harry the map,” George said suddenly. “Look at the poor git, not being able to go out.” I followed his gaze to where he sat, trying to ignore everyone’s fuss and excitement. “We don’t need it as much, we only use it to not get caught now and with the secret passages we barely do.”

“That’s nice of you,” I smiled at the pair of them.

By the time I went to meet Cedric on the steps outside, the snow was falling heavily. I still felt nervous, but I’d managed to calm myself right down. It almost went out of the window when he beamed at me, snow in his hair. “Hello.”

I smiled back at him. “Hey.”

There was a brief, somewhat awkward silence. Then we both looked at each other and laughed. “I thought we could go to Puddifoot’s for some tea and some lunch, if you wanted.”

“That sounds good,” I nodded. He smiled back and took my hand as we walked. I tried very hard not to make it obvious that it made me nervous, and I was glad that the cold probably made my cheeks and nose red enough to hide my blush. Why did I go so shy around him? Fred and George were boys! Lee too! And I never got like this with them. 

I had to remind myself that there was nothing romantic between me and any of them, and that this was an entirely different situation.

Madam Puddifoot’s tea rooms was one of the places I hadn’t visited yet, and I could see why when we entered. It was full of couples, but it seemed nice. There was a fire to keep the heat out, and all the tables were intimate and small to make conversation easier. The tea was good too. 

My nerves soon vanished when we started talking. It was just like being with him as a friend, only the topics were more personal. He’d been curious about my family, especially Felix and Selene. He was laughing with me when I told him about the day Professor Sprout turned up with my Hogwarts letter. “Selene was so upset,” I laughed, remembering it. “I think Professor Sprout just scared Felix when she turned a teacup into a mouse. She came around though, I think she just hated the idea we wouldn’t all be together for high school, it’s always been us three against the world… and then suddenly it was the two of them.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Yes,” I said quickly. “I really do. Selene and I might fight a lot, siblings do that, you know, it happens when we share a small bedroom together, but I can’t imagine losing either of them. The first few weeks here were awful,” I remembered, staring at him seriously. “I ended up in McGonagall’s office begging her to send me home because I missed them too much.”

“It’s curious that neither of them is magical, you’d think being triplets you all would be.”

I shook my head. “I thought so too, mum thinks there’s a chance a cousin of hers is a witch, but we don’t have too much contact with the extended family, so we can’t know for sure,” I frowned, thinking. “There’s also a chance my great, great, grandfather was a wizard. My father barely remembers him, but he was an eccentric man and used to have oddities around the house.” I shrugged, he could just have been a crazy old man, who knew? If he had been, it made little sense that I was the first to be a witch, unless all his kids had been squibs and so on and so forth. It was depressing to think about, that perhaps the rest of my family were squibs. “What about your family?”

“Just my parents and I,” he said. “My dad works at the ministry, he likes to… fuss about me a lot,” he grinned. “He’s a very proud parent, overbearing maybe, but he means no harm by it, and if being proud of me makes him happy, then I aim to make him prouder.”

I smiled warmly. Cedric was a good person. By the time we left we had spent a good few hours just talking and laughing. After family we’d spoken about the future, and then about hobbies, then we’d both shared stories from our childhoods, or from previous years at Hogwarts. He took my hand again as we stepped outside, and as I shivered in the cold, he put his jacket over my shoulders without asking. I’d never been on dates before, but I couldn’t imagine this was going badly at all. In fact, there was nothing awful about it. I barely noticed the time going, not until the sky was getting dark enough that we decided to head back to the castle. We’d both done some last-minute Christmas shopping since we’d be heading home for Christmas in a few days, and then we’d had a late lunch together in the Three Broomsticks. I had to give him credit, he didn’t look twice at Madam Rosmerta, even as Ron who was sat at a table nearby us, was ogling her. I remembered both Fred and George going on about how attractive she was. Cedric had eyes for no one else. It made me feel special.

We lingered in the courtyard rather than going in. Neither of us seemed to want it to end, we were having a good time, yet I couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. I was enjoying his company, and the falling snow was beautiful over Hogwarts. I sighed softly, watching Hagrid lug a tree through the snow. I shivered again.

“We should probably go in,” he said at length.

I looked up at him, ready to agree, but his face was so close to mine. He had snow on his long eyelashes, and I was able to see his eyes were a rather nice shade of grey. And then, he kissed me.

A first kiss in the snow seemed like a dream, especially after a perfect date, but nothing happened. I wondered if it was just me, overthinking it, that this was how it was supposed to feel when you kissed someone you liked, but his frown when he pulled back said it wasn’t. There was a pause, and then I stood on tip toes to kiss him again. I liked him, maybe it was just the first kiss?

Yet that didn’t seem to be it either.

“I’m sorry,” he said at length. “I don’t know what’s going on—”

“I mean, I had a good time, you did too?”

“Yes, absolutely,” he said quickly. “And I like you-“

“I like you too,” I admitted.

He frowned, and we tried again, but nothing. Nothing at all.

“Maybe it’s me,” I said when he pulled back. “I mean, I haven’t kissed a boy before-“

“It’s not you,” he said. “You’re good—I mean, I- uh…” he sighed.

“I don’t think it’s you either,” I offered, smiling weakly.

“So where does this leave us?”

I wanted to say we should wait, have another date and try it again, but somehow, I just knew it wouldn’t work. I wondered why. Maybe I didn’t actually like him? Yet, Summer and Angelina had been resolute in their belief that I liked him when I’d spoken about how I felt to them. The nerves, the smiling when I saw him… yet I pointed out that I smiled when I saw Fred and George too. Summer just said I didn’t feel nervous around them, and that it was a different feeling. She’d been right, but perhaps the nerves were because I knew Cedric and I didn’t belong in the same world. Yet, now those doubts had gone away. We got on so well together, personality wise perhaps we were almost perfect. Maybe he was too nice, but if that was a fault then I was just picky. Cedric was just an ordinary boy, and I was an ordinary girl; there were no rules on us liking each other.

But there was no… spark. 

“Maybe we should just be friends,” I suggested quietly. “I really do like you… maybe we could try again when we’re older-“ I laughed. “But maybe friends is better… before we make it awkward.”

He laughed, squeezing my cold hands. “Friends is good for me.”

I smiled up at him. “I really did have a good time.”

“Me too,” he smiled.

He returned inside soon after, giving me a goodbye and a ‘merry Christmas’ which I returned. I lingered outside for a bit. The fact I didn’t even feel sad or like I should cry over it seemed testament enough to how I truly felt about him. If I had liked him, wouldn’t I be heartbroken and distraught about now? I didn’t feel anything different to how I had when I was with him, maybe disappointment, but I felt that was a given. I dragged myself up to the common room feeling more worried about how the others would react and decided I wanted to avoid Summer at least until the day after. I felt awful for it, but I somehow felt I had let her down for it. Right now, I just wanted to hang out with Fred and George, and I reminded myself that in a few days, I would be with Selene and Felix again and by the time next term started, Cedric and I could work on being just good friends.


	6. Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Semi filler chapter, so it's a wee bit shorter than the others (I think), but I was excited to write this one because the ideas I have in mind can start happening after this :D. Just a light hearted chapter!

Every year, my family went on one holiday together. Sometimes it would be more expensive and only one or two days, other times it might be camping and last longer. It was important to my parents that we did it, despite my siblings and I having said to them, as we got older and understood money wasn’t infinite, that if we didn’t have one every year it was perfectly fine. My parents always picked where, but the three of us took it in turns to pick when. Selene picked last year, and we had gone to France over summer, the year before Felix had picked summer too. This year I had decided it would be nice if we could go away over the Christmas break. We weren’t really going anywhere fancy, just the Scottish Hebrides, but it sure was all covered in snow. Cold, though, which Selene complained about.

“I don’t understand the point of going away over Christmas if it’s not to somewhere sunny and warm,” she sighed dramatically. She was sat on the porch of the small holiday home, bundled up in some thick blanket which had been stored under her bed in our room. Her nose was red, and she had a woollen hat pulled firmly on her head. Yet she stared in wonder at the falling snow as Apollo sat over her shoulder, sleeping soundly.

It was very peaceful. Very different from the past few months at school. Selene and Felix had wanted the run down on everything instantly; starting, of course, with Cedric. Selene had demanded she meet him the moment I got off the Knight Bus outside the holiday home (we decided it made little sense for me to head to London and then travel back up North, this was much more convenient). Truthfully, there was no awkwardness between Cedric and I. We had seen each other at breakfast the morning everyone left, and we’d chatted normally. Summer had watched the exchange and analysed it for me (though I had not asked for it). She’d been very… disappointed, I suppose was the word, that things had not worked out. Selene was much the same. It seemed that the only awkwardness from the whole thing came from having to tell other people it hadn’t worked out. Angelina had asked if it was a bad date, Lee had assumed he was a bad kisser. Fred and George said nothing about what had ‘gone wrong’, but the former had gone straight to threatening him about ‘hurting me’ out-loud to our group of friends. He didn’t quite believe me Cedric didn’t hurt me at all, but it was the sentiment which counted. Felix had much the same reply as him.

After that awkward conversation, they’d asked about Quidditch, and then filled me in on what was going on with them. Felix had a girlfriend for three hours until she’d seen our small house and just turned and walked off. Honestly, what was wrong with people? He wasn’t hurt about it, gladder he’d found out quick what kind of person she was. Selene had mentioned she had seen ‘someone’ she liked, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She always thought she was very secretive about the fact she liked girls more than boys, but she’d never admitted it to any of us. And why should she? Still, some days I hoped she would just go out and say it, maybe she would openly date someone and stop being so secretive about it. We all knew anyway, even if she refused to acknowledge that. I guessed when she found someone she really liked, perhaps she would just bring her over.

Apart from that, Felix had been studying quite seriously still very intent on being a doctor. We were only fifteen, soon sixteen, but he took it very seriously. I couldn’t help but think Hermione and Percy would be fond of him, and most of my teachers too. Selene, on the other hand, had decided she was going to open her own bakery. She just didn’t know where, when, or how, and was also torn whether she wanted to study for a bit first or not.

“Here,” Felix said, handing Selene a mug of hot chocolate as he walked out. I grinned, he, like me, enjoyed the cold a lot more than the heat. “Mum and dad said we’re going on a walk later, there’s a trail the owner of the house said is really good in winter.”

“Of course, we are,” Selene muttered.

I laughed. It was nice to be away from homework. I still had a bit to do, and it was currently discarded on the kitchen table, but I just wanted to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. It really was beautiful out, I couldn’t help but feel as though it was very lucky my mother had found this place. The house belonged to the brother of someone she worked with, and he’d kindly lent us the house for the holiday in exchange that the family babysat their young kids every now and then. It seemed a fair trade, and because of it, we’d be able to spend all of Christmas break here. It would be odd not being with my grandparents, but everyone seemed so much more relaxed here.

Much to Selene’s dislike, we did indeed go for a walk. She hated physical exertion, especially in the cold, and clung most of the way to Felix’s arm. I couldn’t help but notice he’d had a growth spurt since I’d last seen him and he looked a lot more mature and broad shouldered. Maybe Selene and I would be lucky, and it would hit us soon. When I’d said this to her, she’d just laughed and wondered out-loud if perhaps we would never hit one. 

My mother eventually got tired of the designated trail and had decided we would follow a path which didn’t look very used. If I got my love of the out-doors and my need for adventure from anyone it was her. A Gryffindor if I ever saw one. She loved a challenge, and if there was something new to experience, she was always the first one there with her sleeves rolled up. My father was similar, yet a lot more reserved and tended to think more about what he was going to do first.

There was nothing about the path which told any of us, however, that perhaps it would have been best to turn back. As we walked I felt the familiar hum of magic in the air, as if some spells had recently been cast but I just put it out of my mind. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The path led us to a valley which was filled with a large lake and a few trees. There was an island in the middle of the lake with a small house, but nothing else.

“Imagine living there,” my mother said, staring at it. “If it rained too much… what do you suppose they do?”

“Maybe they don’t live there when it rains,” Selene suggested.

“It’s Scotland,” Felix mumbled. “It rains a lot.” I grinned, having to agree that the weather was not always good.

Then, suddenly, a strange beating sound caused us to fall silent. It sounded like a very large bird and, more interested, my mother decided she wanted to find it. That was until a strange, piercing cry echoed in the valley. “What was that?” my father hissed.

His question was soon answered when a large shadow eclipsed us. I was one of the first to look up, gasping as a very large dragon soared over us. It either hadn’t seen us or didn’t care about us because it just flew over the lake, roaring once more, before it vanished from sight. I couldn’t explain the awe I felt, watching the dark dragon fly over-head. I’d only wished I could have gotten closer. Suddenly I understood Hagrid’s fascination with them and I couldn’t wait to get back to talk with him about it. I just stood there, staring to the spot it had vanished, unable to do much else. All I wanted to do, suddenly, was find out more about them. It was the answer I had been looking for the entire time. A hands-on job which was outside, and I enjoyed? 

Selene opened her mouth to speak, but I quickly shushed her. “Shh, I’m on the break of an epiphany here.”

I had always been fascinated by magical creatures, it had been my favourite class since I’d been able to take it. The first time I’d seen a unicorn in the forest I had all but fallen over myself, yet I’d never seriously thought about it. It wasn’t a common job, or at least not an obvious one. I knew witches and wizards worked with dragons in sanctuaries around the world, I could see why; it was a beautiful creature. Of course, dangerous, very dangerous, but….

“Was that… a dragon?” Felix muttered, breaking the silence.

“I think it was, Felix,” my father said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. “A dragon.”

I grinned. “I might have a book in my stuff to identify which breed it was when we get back,” I said quickly. “I thought I could feel magic, I guess there were anti-muggle charms-“

“Anti-muggle charms?”

“Well,” I motioned to where it had gone. “You don’t always want muggles walking into things like, well, that. So, we have spells to discourage muggles from going near areas, or just not seeing them at all. My school is covered in one too….”

“But that didn’t repel us,” Selene pointed out.

“No, I suppose it’s because I’m here? Or maybe the charms just didn’t work well,” I bit my lip. “I wonder who set them up, it would be good to tell them the charms didn’t work just in case, it could be bad if other people come wandering in and it doesn’t decide to ignore us.”

Selene forgot entirely about the cold as we walked back, she asked a lot of questions, but I mostly remained silent, thinking it over. My mother had sensed that my mind was otherwise occupied and let me head up to my room alone, so I could think. I dug around my bag for the book I was looking for, instantly heading to the page about dragon breeds. A Hebridean Black dragon. We had, apparently, been lucky since it turned out to be more aggressive than the Welsh Green’s, I couldn’t imagine what would have happened had it noticed us.

Yet I didn’t feel scared, just curious.

How ridiculous was it, that I had spent the past three years studying magical creatures and enjoying it, but not really taken the time to pay full attention? I flicked through my book, reading random entries on random beasts. The more I did, the more resolve I found. This was what I wanted to do, not just Dragons, but all forms of creatures.

There was a knock on the open door and I looked up as my father walked in. “Here,” he smiled warmly, setting down a mug of hot tea on the night stand. “Did you find it?”

“Y-yes,” I flicked the pages back as he sat beside me on the bed. “Here,” I showed it to him. “We were really lucky, I guess it was focused on something or had already eaten.”

He nodded. “It’s quite surreal.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I knew they were real, but actually seeing one?”

“Your world is so apart from ours,” he said softly. “You go off to school, and we can’t help you with your homework, or give you much advice. It’s not even easy to have a conversation about the things you like. We try-“

“I know,” I said quickly, staring up at him. “I don’t mind. I understand.”

“I know you do, squirt,” he smiled. “But even after we see all the things in Diagon Alley, even though we’ve witnessed magic with our own eyes, it seems so far away from us. I guess that… dragon,” he seemed to stumble over the word. “Reminded us all that it really is the same world.”

I grinned, closing the book and pulling it to my chest. “If you knew all the things magic influences, or how many people are magical I think you’d be shocked.” He laughed. “Dad?”

“Yes?”

“I think I figured out what to do with my life.”

“Oh?”

I nodded, staring resolutely down at the book against my chest. “I need to do more research and talk to my head of house about it, but I want to be a Magizoologist,” I gulped down. “It’s a witch or wizard who studies magical creatures,” I grinned, it sounded obvious to me, but he’d had a perplexed look on his features. “They look after them too… I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before. It’s perfect for me.”

“You did want to be a vet when you were younger,” he reminded me. “At least that was one of the things, but the zoo was your favourite place to go if you had the choice. We used to have to drag you away, in fact the very first book you liked me to read to you at night was a book about animals.”

I smiled.

“I’m proud of you,” he said suddenly.

“Dad?”

“It must be hard to be away from your brother and sister, but you seem so happy. I admit, we were worried for the first few years, you were so withdrawn and whenever you wrote you never seemed truly happy, but it’s different now. It’s like you finally belong there,” he smiled at me, pride clear in his eyes. “And now you’ve found what you want to do.”

I blushed furiously. “I really do miss them, and you and mum too. Being away is difficult, especially when I need to talk about something, but I have very good friends. They’re like a second family to me,” I smiled up at him. 

I was glad, he seemed happier than he’d been in a long time. That wasn’t to say he was sad before, my father was a perpetually happy person, it took a lot to get to him, but as the next few days passed he was more jovial than ever. I assumed the Christmas spirit had gotten into him.

Most of the days were spent taking walks or going to near-by towns and just looking around. When we returned home I would do homework or read the book over and over. By Christmas morning I had read it so much I no longer got any information from it, but I clung to it even-so, more excited to return to Hogwarts and get more books and talk to Hagrid.

Christmas day was the most relaxed we’d spent in years. Usually we would head to my grandparents, but they weren’t the nicest of people, and we’d often find an excuse to leave early, long after all of us had been extremely deflated and no longer had energy to do anything. Selene was watching a movie with our father inside, both bundled up warm, and Felix and my mother were having a very energetic snowball fight. I was sat on the porch again going over the book.

Until a snowball hit me, that was.

I looked up at Felix, who pointed quickly to my mother. I snapped to her to see her giggling and scooping up more snow. For the first time since the dragon, I discarded the book and bounded down to make my own snowball and enjoy it with them. This really was the perfect time to have a holiday, and I was sure everyone agreed. They were all so happy and jovial. I wished we could stay this happy forever, it was what they deserved. They were good people.

I spent a few days doing homework which had to be done. I felt less anxious about some of it now I knew I didn’t need to take a lot of classes at NEWT level. In fact, I wasn’t sure which ones I would even need until I spoke with McGonagall, but I couldn’t imagine many of them would be overly useful. As such I relaxed enough that I began to enjoy the learning side of magic again, even Snape’s essay was interesting to write. Without the pressure for it to be perfect, I remembered why I enjoyed potions so much.

Then, suddenly, it was December 31st, and myself, Felix, and Selene celebrated our sixteenth birthday. I had already gotten Apollo, and Selene and Felix had gotten gifts earlier in the year too, but our parents had stayed up late the previous night to make a rather large cake for us. We had a small party, just the five of us, and I received cards from a lot of my friends. Summer had even sent me a small gift, a rather pretty hair clip which was, rather funnily, in the shape of a dragon. She’d written in the card she had no idea why, but it reminded her of me. I took it as a sign.

It’s quite amazing, what a little thing like perspective could do.

“You seem happy,” Selene whispered late one night. We’d put all our blankets on the floor, so we could lie, with Felix, and sleep together. Maybe we were getting too old to do it, but we did it every birthday. It was comforting, I liked them both there with me.

“I am,” I said suddenly.

“Really not sad over this Cedric boy?”

Honestly, I hadn’t thought of what had happened at all the past few days. “Maybe a little,” I admitted. “Or maybe I was, of course I was—but I think it was a disappointed type of sad. I liked him but there was nothing there for no obvious reason,” I sighed softly. “But we agreed to be friends.”

“Well if he hurts you, make sure you tell me,” Felix said firmly.

“Fred said the same,” I smiled, staring up at the ceiling. It occurred to me, that some time in the future, I would be spending even less time with my family than I had since starting Hogwarts. I assumed there would be some form of travel in the job I wanted, Felix would be busy becoming a doctor, and if Selene wanted her bakery to work out, it was going to take hard work and time, too. Yet, even if it wasn’t for that… our lives were, and had been for a long time, veering in two very different directions. My father was right, it was my world and their world, and while it was really all one world, very connected and entwined in ways most people didn’t realise, there was still the fact I was a witch and I would always be one, and I would live the rest of my life surrounded by magic and magical people. At some point the course we were on was going to veer enough away that we would probably not make blanket forts on our birthday every year.

I frowned. “I missed you both.”

Selene scoffed. “You missed raiding my clothes.”

“Not really, you know green looks ridiculous on me.”

Felix laughed. “You two are identical.” We both looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, okay,” he said quickly. “I will admit green suits Selene a lot better than it suits you. Who knows how that even works?”

“Maybe it’s a magic thing,” Selene suggested.

I snorted. “Then it’s lucky I’m not a Slytherin, I’d be dressed in green forever.”

“Green is good.”

“I like red,” I grinned at her.

The three of us fell silent for a time, then I felt Selene’s hand take hold of mine under the blankets. She said nothing, but I took Felix’s hand in turn and he squeezed back. We didn’t need words, we all understood it.

_ We missed you too. _


	7. Sleepover

The thing about returning on the Knight Bus to Hogwarts after the holidays was it arrived a lot earlier than the Hogwarts Express. There were other students on the bus too, all talking excitedly to each other. I didn’t know anyone here, though I thought I recognised some second year Gryffindor’s, but it didn’t bother me. I had my mind on one thing. I didn’t think of anything but going straight to Hagrid’s, I didn’t pay attention to anything else. If it had been any other time, perhaps I would have been more in awe of the empty castle and how big it was, or how eerie it was when it was silent. Instead I made the most of how empty it was and rushed into the Gryffindor common room.

“Arte-“

“Sorry, Harry,” I said quickly. “I really can’t talk,” I gave him a smile to reassure him, and Ron who were sitting in front of the fire, then rushed to take my things up. I quickly grabbed the book out of my bag but left everything else unpacked and hurried back down. “If the twins ask after me tell them I’ve gone to see Hagrid.”

“Why are you-“

“I’ll tell you later!” I yelled, already out of the common room.

I walked as briskly as I could, almost out of breath as I knocked on the large wooden door. I heard Fang barking, and then Hagrid chastising him, before the door swung open. The first time I had seen Hagrid I had been so in awe of how… huge he was, and even though I’d seen him for five years now, and had classes with him all this year, I was still not used to it. “Artemis?” He squinted, looking up at the castle. I peered around him to see the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, lying lazily on the floor. 

“Hagrid, I saw a dragon over Christmas.”

He did not react instantly, instead letting my words sink in, before he half gasped and all but dragged me in. I made sure to bow to the Hippogriff, smiling when he bowed his head. I walked over gently and stroked his head. He was such a gentle thing, I couldn’t believe what Malfoy had done to him. What a git.

“A dragon? Where?”

“We were on holiday in the Hebrides,” I said quickly, flicking through the book. “We went off the main path, and we were in this valley and then suddenly we hear wings and then a roar and it flew overhead!” I said, sure my eyes were going wide with excitement. “It entirely ignored us, but it was beautiful.”

“Ah, I envy ya,” he said. “That was incredibly lucky, that it ignored you.”

I nodded. “I read that the Hebridean Black is the most aggressive in England,” I paused, moving closer to him. “It made me realise, though, what I want to do.”

“Work with dragons?” He said loudly, getting more and more excited. 

“Yes, well, no, but—not just dragons. Oh… I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out earlier, this class is my favourite and…” I looked down at Buckbeak and smiled warmly. “All the beasts are just amazing and-“ I inhaled, letting myself breathe. “I didn’t know who else to tell first, I thought you’d appreciate it most.”

He nodded, smiling happily. I’d known he hadn’t been feeling great what with Buckbeak’s trial, but it seemed to cheer him up a bit. “Don’t forget Charlie, did you write to him yet? Yer friends aren’t ya?”

I almost swore (I didn’t, because he was still a teacher). In the excitement I had entirely forgotten about Charlie. I’d have to write to him today, ask him the questions I had—I felt I could hardly sit still.

“You spoke to Professor McGonagall about it yet?”

“Not yet, I was going to go up to her next,” I said. “I was just really excited.” Fang rested his head in my lap and I grinned at him.

Hagrid smiled warmly. “Well ye have a way with them, that’s for sure,” he said a little gruffly. “Tell ye what, you talk to McGonagall and I’ll see what I can do to help! It’s not even a job you need a NEWT in,” he said. I smiled. “Though it helps, there’s some Salamanders with scale rot I’m looking after, yer can come and help look after them if you want. Rub chilli powder on their bodies,” he shrugged. “I know it’s not exciting, certainly not after a dragon, blimey,” he breathed out, looking happier and happier by the second. “But it’s good hands on experience.”

I nodded excitedly. “I’d be happy to help.” If I didn’t even need a NEWT to be a Magizoologist then it didn’t matter if I neglected my OWL’s a little. Of course, I would put effort in, but I could relax a bit, put more time into this. “I should hurry to McGonagall before she’s busy. Thanks for the help, Hagrid! I’ll write to Charlie later too.”

“It’s not a problem, any time yer have any questions I’ll be more than happy to answer ‘em for yer!”

I gave a goodbye to Buckbeak and to Fang, and then hurriedly rushed off to McGonagall’s office. It was chilly out, and the train was probably due back any time. I probably knocked too hard on her door in my excitement, because she had a frown on her face as she answered the door. “Miss. Taylor?”

“Professor,” I breathed out. “I know what I want to do—I wanted your advice, and I-I know term hasn’t started yet but…” I stared up at her.

Whether she was afraid I would deflate if she sent me away or whether it was something else, I wasn’t sure, but she gave me a very tiny smile and brought me into her office. Maybe she wasn’t so used to having students so excited about something, and she listened very carefully as I told her everything; even Hagrid’s offer to help where he could.

“Well, he is right,” she said firmly. “No formal qualifications are needed to become a Magizoologist, though a good high NEWT in care of magical creatures will certainly help, as will any practical experience Hagrid might be able to assist you with.”

“I was going to write to Charlie,” I said. “Weasley, you know, and ask him some questions too.”

“That’s a good idea,” she said, the tight-lipped smile on her lips. “I must say I didn’t see this coming, but perhaps I should have.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner,” I said, feeling rather silly about it. “I only thought about jobs I could do with potions.

“That isn’t to say you can, for lack of a better word, slack off, in your other subjects,” she said sternly. “You will still be expected to pass at least a few other subjects. I will not have your sixth and seventh years made entirely up of one class,” she shook her head, apparently finding the idea absurd. “I will talk with Hagrid about any relevant experience he can give you in the next few years, too.”

“Really?” I half jumped up out of the seat.

I didn’t stay with McGonagall for too long. Instead I headed to the library and grabbed a few books on magical beasts. Madam Pince gave me a stern look, obviously curious as to what I could want with them but let me take them out. I’d not brought my bag with me, so instead they were overflowing in my arms as I hurried through the corridors.

By this time, the other students had returned, so it was harder to manoeuvre through them all. I gasped, hitting into someone and almost dropping the books. “S-sorry, I can’t really see where-“

“Artemis.”

I looked up, smiling warmly. “Cedric! How was your holiday?”

“Good, how was yours?” He raised an eyebrow at the books. “Are you studying already?”

“W-well it’s a long story and my holiday was good,” I smiled. There was no hint of anything else, it was nice. I was glad we could still be friends. “I saw a dragon.”

“What? Really?” he stared intently. “Here,” he added, taking some of the books from my arms. “I’ll help you and you can tell me what happened.”

It was the third time that day I’d told the story, but I was still so excited about it. We stood outside of the portrait hole, just talking about it for a bit until he gave my books back. “Here,” he chuckled. “I was worried when I saw them, I thought I’d forgotten an essay for Hagrid.”

I grinned. “Hey, have you seen Summer yet?”

“No, but I heard her.”

I laughed. “Of course you did,” I shrugged. “I’ll see her at dinner then.”

Cedric smiled at me. “Don’t walk into anyone else, okay?”

“I think I’ll be okay,” I grinned over the books, balancing them in my arms as I gave the password to Sir Cadogan, who had been yelling at us for the past five minutes. “Honestly, he’s ridiculous. I hope the Fat Lady returns soon.”

Cedric bid me farewell, and I watched him go for a few moments, before ducking into the common room. It was already a hive of activity, and I weaved in between people, returning some greetings, and rushing up to my dorm room to put the books down. Angelina was there already. “Hey.”

“Hey!” I grinned at her, dumping the books on my bed.

“Do I want to know?”

I laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing dubious,” I grinned. “Are the twins here yet?”

“They went to their dorm room. I think they argued with Percy again.”

I sighed, shaking my head. I would talk to them later. Now, instead, I grabbed some parchment and my quill and began to pen a letter to Charlie. McGonagall and Hagrid had both given me an idea of some questions to ask, and I had some of my own, in addition to explaining to him what had happened and what I’d decided. I liked Charlie, he had been very kind to me while he was here. I wasn’t sure if I could class us close enough for friends, but considering his younger brothers were my best friends, I hoped that he and I would be able to be a least more familiar in the future. 

When I was done I stored the letter in my robes to take to the owlery to send off with Apollo and headed back into the common room. All the stress from OWL and NEWT years had seemingly already been forgotten, everyone was smiling and laughing. Percy was in the corner of the room, looking overly smug and while I wanted to do something about it, instead I just sat down in front of the fire next to Hermione. “How was your Christmas?”

“Oh, Artemis,” she smiled. “It was good… though I don’t think Harry and Ron are too pleased with me,” she whispered.

“Why not?”

“Because…. Well… Harry got gifted a firebolt for Christmas.”

I inhaled. “Jeeze, who has that kind of money?”

“There was no tag,” she whispered, clutching at the book in her lap. “I wasn’t sure if it was safe… I mean, this is Harry and with Sirius Black around… I thought perhaps t-that he had sent it to him… so I went to McGonagall and she quite agreed with me.”

“And Harry and Ron are pissed off you were looking out for Harry’s life?”

“Well… McGonagall took the broom to do tests on it….”

I felt bad for her. She looked so dejected and upset over it. She had relatively few friends outside of Harry and Ron. “You’re not mad at me too, are you?” she asked quickly. “Oliver Wood was furious when he found out.”

I grimaced. “Of course he was.” Honestly, that boy! “I’m not mad at you, why would I be? It was the most sensible thing to do, and McGonagall wants us to win as much as anyone else; why would she not try and have it back in time? If Harry can’t catch the snitch without a very fast broom, and yes it helps, but if his skills don’t help then that’s that isn’t it?” I leaned over, squeezing her hand softly. “It’s just a broom, Hermione, and I love Quidditch and I sure do want to win but not at the cost of someone’s life. Oliver should have thought about that himself.”

She smiled gratefully at me. “What are you reading? I never see you read.”

I grinned, holding up the book I’d taken from the library. It was a basic ‘introduction to magical beasts’. Basic stuff, but I had to start somewhere. “I saw a dragon over Christmas,” I said, yet again explaining everything to her.

“Oh, I bet that was awfully scary though, no? If it had been interested in you….”

“Yeah,” I shook my head. “We were really lucky, but it was beautiful-“ I trailed off, watching two familiar red-heads come down the stairs. “I’ll talk to you later, Hermione, I see my two favourite troublemakers.”

Neither Fred, nor George had noticed me sitting there, so when I pushed my way in between them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders, they both jumped in shock. “Merlin! Arte, you have got to stop just appearing!”

I giggled. “Nice to see you too, Georgie. How was Christmas?”

He stared at me, then at Fred, and sighed. “Mum was really angry at us because of Percy.”

“Oh no.”

“Needless to say, it wasn’t the greatest atmosphere…” Fred added. “She thinks we’re wasting our life, I’ve never seen her so angry.”

“Wanna take a walk with me?” I said quickly when I saw his eyes lock with Percy’s. I grabbed his arm with both of my hands tightly. “I need to send a letter.”

“Yeah, good idea,” George murmured, helping me take Fred outside. He was very quiet as we walked, I shared looks with George as we walked. If Fred wanted to talk about it, he would, but I hadn’t seen him smile once yet. It was… not right. “Who are you writing to?” George murmured, seeing the hefty roll of scroll I had brought out after I called Apollo down. “That looks like a damn essay.”

I shrugged. “Charlie.”

“As in Charlie, Charlie? Our elder brother? The Dragon tamer? That Charlie?” Fred asked, seemingly glad for the strange turn of events. “Why on earth are you writing to him? You’re not in some illicit romance with-“

“God! Fred, no!” I shook my head, tying the letter to Apollo’s leg and sending him off. It would be a long trip, but it was important. “I saw a dragon over Christmas.”

“And you wanted to tell him? Arte, he sees them all the time, I doubt he’s going to be excited.”

I hit Fred’s chest gently. “No, it just kind of made me realise some things and I wanted his advice,” I shrugged. “I’m gonna become a Magizoologist.” I sighed softly, staring out at the snow-covered grounds. “Your mum will come around, you know, that right?”

“But if she doesn’t even let us make anything to begin with… we’d have to do it in secret, hide it from her,” George pointed out. “And it’s difficult to hide anything from her.”

“She just loves you a lot,” I stared at them, shaking my head. “I don’t agree with her,” I added quickly, seeing Fred’s face sour. “The opposite, I thought I gave my opinion on your joke shop already?” I smiled at him. “There’s going to be a way to make it work and when there is, you’re going to need products to sell. You should be making some! Do you have any more ideas?”

They both looked at each other for a moment, then back at me. “You know, I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Figure it out, I’m not saying anything you don’t already know,” I grinned. “You’re both intelligent, bloody brilliant at times, maybe with a touch of genius-“ Fred gave me a cheeky grin at this and I laughed. “But you can both be slow at times!”

Term started quickly after that and we were busier than ever. All the teachers threw more work and essays onto us, and Oliver was getting even more stressed about the next Quidditch match which would now be against Ravenclaw. He was worried mostly about Harry’s broomstick and had started to encourage him to just get another one until he could get it back. On top of this, while the twins were working on some ideas for products they’d had, I would spend a lot of time with Hagrid helping him with the Salamanders, and Buckbeak. McGonagall had decided to bribe me that in the next two years, I could only help him with the other creatures if I got at least two five E’s in my OWL’s. It didn’t seem hard, but I was wrong. A lot of the rest of my time, I had my nose in a book.

Summer didn’t very much like my new lack of time, but since Ron and Harry were still not talking to Hermione, she started hanging out with her, and trying to bring Neville into the group. It was rather an amusing idea. Cedric and I had discussed it at length during Herbology the first week back and had laughed a great deal.

Charlie’s reply came a week into the new term. He’d apologised for the late replies, but they were dealing with a nesting dragon who was, well, rather temperamental. He’d answered all the questions I’d had and had encouraged me a great deal in my decision. He and I had started a back and forth after that, shorter letters mostly, but I always had questions, and he often shared little stories with me. He also suggested a few books to me, I found two of them in the library, the others I would need to hunt for. I wondered if the second-hand bookstore in Diagon Alley would hold any of them.

Things seemed to be coming together. Fred and George were a lot happier now, back to their usual troublemaking selves, and had roped me into playing some pranks on some Slytherin’s. Some pug-faced girl from Harry’s year had run off almost in tears when her hair had been turned a vivid shade of green. Snape wouldn’t be impressed with us, but it was more than worth it. It had been hilarious, especially since it seemed to cheer Hermione up a little. The twins started to pay attention to their studies too, just a bit, enough so they could pass, and Percy was so busy studying for his NEWT’s that they’d had no time to butt heads again, thankfully. The only person who had more to do was Hermione, who was beginning to stay up later than anyone in the common room. I saw her a lot while I was at Hagrid’s, she used her little free time to help find something to help Buckbeak’s trial. I didn’t want to voice out-loud how inevitable it seemed, so instead I just focused on making sure his last few months were perfectly happy.

As February arrived, the snow vanished, and more rain and sleet appeared. Oliver was more and more stressed about the upcoming match, I’d almost snapped at him when he’d demanded one extra practice that week. Fred and George had dragged me off before I could.

“You should have let her hit him,” Lee agreed with me, as I sat on the floor of their dorm. He and I were studying together while the twins worked on trying to figure out how to turn some of their marvellous ideas into reality. They were coming along well with some of them, but it was obvious they just needed to be able to dedicate all their time on it. If anyone was most looking forward to the end of term, it was probably them.

“She would have regretted it,” Fred said tiredly. “Besides she got to stress eat her way through that cake at dinner.”

George snorted, and my face turned bright red. “I’ve never seen someone so tiny eat an entire cake,” he turned around to grin at me, just in time for me to throw a pillow off Lee’s bed at his face.

I stayed so late studying and talking with them, that I ended up falling asleep on the floor there. All four of us had moved some blankets on the floor to study in comfort. Lee was checking his potions essay against mine, while Fred helped me out with charms, a subject in which they consistently got high grades. George had been in the middle of laughing at my half-hearted divination homework when I felt my eyes get heavy. 

It wasn’t the first time I’d fallen asleep in their dorm room, I doubted it would be the last. One-time Angelina had joined in too, though that time we hadn’t been studying, we’d just been eating snacks and Fred and George had gone to Hogsmeade with the map to nick some butterbeers for us all. It had been a fun night. All three boys had quickly offered up their beds for the pair of us, despite our own not being that far away, but then all of us had just slept on the floor. It wasn’t the best sleep, sometimes someone would accidentally shove their foot into someone else’s face, or you’d wake up with an arm across you or something, and it was hell on the back, but it was nice at the same time.

March soon arrived and with it the quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Harry had gotten his broom back, to which I gave Oliver a very ‘I told you so’ stare, I also told Ron he’d been down right rotten to Hermione and should apologise to her for it. He’d stared at me indignantly and focused on his work, which he was struggling a great deal with without her. The only issue seemed to be Harry’s dementor problem, but he assured Oliver that he had it under control.

It was different playing in decent conditions, I enjoyed it a lot. With all the pressure from examinations, it was so… freeing, to whip around the sky with a soft breeze in your hair. The next match would be against Slytherin, but at that point the weather was going to be so perfect. It would bring with it its own set of problems, but that was to worry about later. The captain for Ravenclaw was a rather pretty girl named Cho Chang. I knew her in passing mostly, nothing too much. I don’t think we had ever spoken, we had no reason to, after all. I did notice Harry’s lingering gaze on her, something the twins also noticed. 

The other difference to the better conditions, was that everyone could see what was going on. To begin with it had made me nervous and I’d almost gotten hit by a bludger and dropped the quaffle early on, but when I learned to tune out everything that wasn’t my team and Madam Hooch I got a lot better, even managing to score a few shots. We were all flying perfectly, completely working together. Oliver seemed so happy when I had flown near him to get out of range of the Ravenclaw beaters, he had a smile on his lips, though his eyes were carefully trained on the quaffle. 

I’d just passed the quaffle to Angelina when I saw something dark out of the corner of my eyes. Instantly I turned to watch the dementor go for Harry—only…

I looked around. No one was reacting to it, not the way you’d react to a dementor. Was it really one? And yet it had gone away so instantly. Harry had withdrawn his wand and cast a Patronus charm which had chased it down. In the same instance he caught the snitch.

Now, if there was one thing Gryffindor’s out did every other house on (apart from brashness and foolhardiness) it was parties. The common room was loud. There was no studying at all, those who insisted it had left to go to the library. I had forgotten studying long ago, having way too much fun. Everyone questioned where the twins had gotten the butterbeer, but only those who knew about the map understood their sly grins. Harry was, of course, man of the hour and everyone wanted to talk to him or be near him. In fact, anyone on the team was suddenly subject to interest, it was strange, so I had stuck to Fred or George’s side the entire time. It was hard not to, they were the life and soul of the party. 

Especially when they broke out one of their products; Canary Creams. Their quick demonstration of the sweet had earned a huge round of applause and cheers. I watched feeling rather proud. If they still had any lingering doubts about the whole thing, they were erased at the reaction, and I could almost see the determination return to their eyes.

It wasn’t until one in the morning that McGonagall charged in, demanding we cease the festivities and head to bed. There were some grumbles, some laughter, but we’d all gone to our dorms. I laid in bed for what felt like hours before I decided I just couldn’t sleep and I slipped out of bed and tip-toed to the boy’s room. Gently, I put my ear to the door and smiled hen I heard whispering, pushing it open. “Boys?” 

“Jeeze, Artemis! Knock first! We could be naked!”

I laughed, sitting on the bottom of Fred’s bed. “I’ve seen you in your smalls before, Freddie, and trust me it wasn’t anything special.” I grinned at his dumbstruck look.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” he said quickly to George. “You look exactly like me.”

The three of us, and Lee, spoke for a long time, about nothing mostly. At some point I had started falling asleep, not partaking in the conversation as much, until a loud scream echoed out through the entire tower.

“Awesome! We’re starting again!” George said happily, bounding over to the doors and going downstairs.

“George,” I said quickly, hurrying after him. “That doesn’t sound like-“

“Merlin’s sake!” McGonagall yelled, rushing in through the portrait. Harry and Ron were in the common room with the twins and I just on the stairs. “I told you to go to bed-“

“But he was there, in our dorm… standing over me! With a knife!” Ron yelled.

“Who was?”

“Sirius Black!”

I felt cold. My hand shot out to grab the first one it met, and Fred gripped back tightly. Of course, it was too much to ask for a quiet year, too much to ask for Sirius Black to be caught, too much to ask for Harry and his friends to not be in danger. I suddenly didn’t feel safe, how had he gotten in? I moved closer to Fred, happy I could hide behind him. I mentally snorted. If I ever did anything great enough to be in history books I would be remembered as the cowardly Gryffindor. 

All the Gryffindors were piled into the common room as the castle was searched, but of course nothing turned up. McGonagall reassured us and told us all to go back to bed but… “Fred, George,” I said, grabbing both of their sleeves. “I really don’t want to sleep alone.” I didn’t care how much of a baby I seemed, I just knew if I went o bed alone I wasn’t going to be able to sleep at all. 

George acted first, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into their room. They’d been very silent the entire time, obviously sensing that it was not the right time to make jokes for the atmosphere. For the second time that term I found myself lying on the floor of their dorm, sandwiched between either twin, with Lee snoring in his bed. George had his back against mine, but Fred was facing me, and I couldn’t help but think that he looked especially peaceful.

My relationship with the twins had always been odd since it started. I was closer with George, I told him a lot more than I told Fred. He reminded most like Felix in the way he’d respond to things or the way he would instinctively try and protect me if I needed it. Fred was my best friend too, but I argued with him a lot more. We butted heads because he was the more impulsive of the two, and while I could also be rather impulsive, I had the tendency to start doing something then notice all the details of things that could go wrong and then I would worry too much. Still, we’d never done long without not talking to each other. I think the longest had been an entire lesson, and by the time it ended he’d had to pull a face at me to make me laugh.

“You should sleep,” he said quietly, eyes opening a bit. He looked exhausted, and his voice was croaky and gruff.

I blushed. How long had he been awake? Did he know I was staring at him? And why on earth was I staring at him in the first place? I knew how Fred Weasley looked, I saw him every single day. “I’m just worried.”

“He won’t come back, not while everyone is waiting for him,” he said.

“How did he even get in… and not even into the common room, but into the castle… twice?” I frowned. “I’m scared.”

Fred was silent at that, going through his mind at what to say, probably. “Well look at it this way, currently you’re stuck between the two most handsome and skilled beaters in Gryffindor history,” he grinned. “If he comes in that door, I’m sure we can take him.”

“Fred, he’s a mass murderer-“

He shrugged. “Mum thought we’d end up in Azkaban, we’re on his level.”

I hit his shoulder but giggled. It was an awful joke to make, but… “You’re right, I’m being silly.”

“Mmhmm,” he agreed, his eyes fluttering shut. “Now think about your dragons and your dashing dragon prince-“ I groaned, that was how they’d taken to calling Charlie. “And sleep.”

Surprisingly though, it did help. Not thinking about Charlie, but the dragons. I went through in my mind, reciting each breed and its characteristics, and not long after that, my mind calmed enough to allow me to fall into sleep. I woke a few times, at one point I was aware of voices and some sunlight, but I could feel the boys either side of me, so I kept my eyes closed. I was exhausted, and falling asleep feeling so safe, so happy… I didn’t want anything else right then.


	8. OWLs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a boring chapter, but stuff will start getting more exciting soon ;D

The days following Ron’s ‘near death experience’ were some of the tensest. New curfews were in place for everyone, and teachers were clamping down on sneaking out a lot more. The twins, Lee, and I managed to get a week’s worth of detentions for being out just an hour after it. We’d wanted to argue with McGonagall when she’d found us, but the idea she would write to Mrs. Weasley caused the twins to drag Lee and I off. Quidditch practices were also supervised more, something that could get rather annoying if it wasn’t Madam Hooch or Professor Flitwick overseeing it. 

There was barely any time to stop and worry too much about Sirius Black, though, because as the weeks passed, we got more and more homework. There were two groups of students always in the library and common room. The fifth year OWL students and the seventh year NEWT students, and we were all so lumbered with work that no one had time to even breathe. People seemed to cope (or not cope) with it very well. Fred and George started pranking anyone near them, even Lee, Angelina, and I. Percy had almost banned them from the common room because someone was often yelling or screaming at them. Angelina coped by pushing herself harder in quidditch practices, and Oliver was like her. Lee tried to stay away from Fred and George, so he had more time to study, but he kept getting so caught up in what he was doing he often ended up at the wrong place. Even Cedric seemed grumpier than normal, he’d snapped at the Hufflepuff team during practice, and the past few herbology lessons we’d both been very silent, too intent on concentrating. I “coped” by snapping at almost everyone. McGonagall’s condition that I get at least five E’s was weighing heavily on me, and I tried hard to focus on just subjects I knew I could perfect but then there was the issue that I still had to pass my others. I had taken to eating as much as I could as quickly as I could at breakfast and dinners, then going straight to studying. Originally, I had studied in the common room, but after being subject to a few of the twins increasing pranks, I had instead moved to the library. Madam Pince all but threw them out the moment one of them coughed. Percy was snapping at almost everyone, he and I bickered frequently. He was someone I was already frustrated with, so he always seemed to be the first to draw my temper.

The only other person who was studying as much was Hermione. She was struggling with her workload, and it was really showing. Ron and she had argued again, this time because her cat had apparently eaten Ron’s rat. Honestly, what did he expect? And that rat was old! I left that situation for Summer to sort out, though, but I barely got to see much of her. I knew she was staying away so I could focus, but I wondered if I scared her a little any time I snapped. She was kind, though, that she came with me to Madam Pomfrey with me when I felt just a little too stressed and anxious. She’d calmed me down instantly and suggested I take a break to do something else. I was unable to sit still, so Summer suggested we take a run around the lake. I had thought the idea ridiculous, at first, but afterwards I really did feel better.

The upside to me being so snappy, though, was the week leading up to the final Quidditch match with Slytherin, they didn’t dare come near me. I heard of numerous prank wars and hexes gone wrong, but I’d taken one look at Malfoy as he’d come near me and he’d turned around and scurried off. Oliver kept trying to push for five nights of practice, and this time Fred and George didn’t stop me from hitting him. I didn’t hit him, but Angelina had gotten very close. It was only when Katie and Harry mentioned that, perhaps, it would be ideal to relax a little or we wouldn’t win, that Oliver backed off, just a little.

The second upside to OWL’s, was I was so focused on them, I didn’t feel nervous about the match at all. In fact, it sped by. I must have been reciting essays in my head as Angelina, Katie, and I passed the quaffle to and from each other and went to score. The Slytherins were playing dirty, though, and it appeared they’d substituted their entire team with idiots apart from Malfoy. Big, muscular guys who seemed to really enjoy trying to knock us off or get us to look at the sun. I took a particularly nasty bludger to the head about ten minutes in which resulted in Madam Hooch giving us a penalty. Fred and George were livid, and after that made it their goal to make things hell for the Slytherin chasers.

For all, I was grateful when Harry caught the snitch. I didn’t even process that we had won until I found the arms of the Gryffindor team around me and Oliver was yelling enthusiastically about how we’d won the cup. Instantly, all thoughts of the exams had rushed out of my head, and I let myself be squashed closer against Fred in celebration.

“How’s your head?”

“Not great,” I grinned up at him. “I actually have a bit of a headache.”

He stared at me for a few moments. “We should take you to Madam Pomfrey.”

“You should, doesn’t mean you will.”

He frowned. “Arte, I’m serious, you have a huge bruise.”

My hand shot up to where it had hit me, and my temple was indeed rather sore. I swore under my breath and sighed, reluctantly let the twins drag me up to the medical wing after Dumbledore had presented us with the trophy. 

“I thought Oliver would marry the thing,” George snorted.

“He sure looked ready to confess his love to it,” I said weakly, rubbing the other side of my head. It was really starting to hurt, but then again, I think we all had permanent headaches recently.

Madam Pomfrey, of course, scolded me for not going to her instantly and muttered about how dangerous Quidditch was. I just grinned at her and let her see to me. She reckoned I had a minor concussion, but nothing too serious. I should just stay out of bright lights and try not to sleep for a bit. Of course, once she said that, all I wanted to do was sleep. 

Summer arrived shortly after. “Are you okay?!” she yelled.

“Shh,” I said quickly, squinting at her. “My head really hurts.”

“Sorry,” she gave me a sheepish smile, then smiled at George and just glared at Fred. Thing had been weird with them recently, it was like she hadn’t fully forgiven him for the comment at Halloween and everything after just made her angrier to him. Ridiculous, really, but they’d sort it out. She had no reason to be angry at him, not really, she’d relax eventually.

She sucked up her dislike for Fred, though, when they both suggested that since I couldn’t sleep, and my head was too sore to study, that instead we should get revenge on some Slytherin’s who had been especially nasty the past week. Summer was all for it, quickly suggesting a few who I knew had been rather cruel to Neville for no reason. She took any situation to prank a Slytherin, it was rather amusing. And, I had to admit, a good stress relief.

Late one night, the day before exams were due to start, I found myself alone in the common room with Harry. He and I weren’t exactly close, in fact I wasn’t even sure we could be considered “friends”, more acquaintances really, but he was quiet, and I quite enjoyed the company. I think he always enjoyed being near people who didn’t see him as famous Harry Potter ‘The Boy Who Lived’, and even more when they didn’t comment on how he looked like his dad, apart from his eyes (he had his mothers eyes, according to many of the adults he met). 

“It’s odd not seeing a book in your hand,” he commented.

I looked over at him then laughed. “When I first started here I always had my head in a book, after Fred and George got to me, however, I neglected my studies,” I shrugged. “I don’t… like studying.”

“But you’re intelligent.”

I shrugged again. “I just don’t like studying. I like to learn things, but studying?” I sighed. “I figure I should take the night off, exams start tomorrow, and I can’t cram anything else into my head. I prepared as best as I could,” I smiled. “It helps that we have some amazing teachers, Professor Lupin, for instance, was really good in helping us prepare in his last few classes, well… Professor Sprout took one of his classes,” I shrugged. “I guess Lupin was sick again.”

“He’s nice, I like him.”

“Me too,” I frowned. “It’s really a shame- “

“Maybe the he will break the jinx.”

I laughed softly. “Harry, I do love your optimism. You’re somewhat as bad as Summer, she has an idea that if she wishes hard enough things just happen…” I sighed. “It doesn’t help that it often works. Maybe you should ask her to wish for Lupin to stay, use her ability to wish things into happening.”

He laughed.

“Why are you up so late?” I stared at him.

“Hermione and Ron’s bickering were giving me a headache,” he admitted. “They’re still not really talking, but he kind of snapped at her earlier, and, well…” he sighed.

“They’ll come around,” I assured him. “She’s just really stressed.”

“I thought they’d sorted it out, you know, when Ron started helping with Buckbeak’s case, but….”

“Like I said, she’s just stressed, and he’s upset over Scabbers.”

Harry went silent again. I debated on leaving him, but I didn’t quite want to sleep yet. It was strange, I was thinking about the first year he’d been here, when I was still friendless. It was weird adjusting to no Charlie to talk to over meals, and I hadn’t spoken to anyone for much of the school year. It was the year I’d met Summer, though. “You remember your first year, when Quirrell turned out to have Voldemort in the back of his head?”

Harry stared at me, shocked. I guess not many people used his name—I didn’t see the issue. He was gone, wasn’t he? What was the point in being afraid of a name from the past which couldn’t hurt me now? “Y-yes, I remember.”

“At Christmas, Fred and George enchanted snowballs to bounce off the back of his head,” I laughed, suddenly unable to stop myself. “They threw snowballs at Voldemort!”

He stared at me like I was crazy for a few moments, but then laughed too. “They’re one of a kind.”

I laughed, wondering if he intended on the joke in his words. “How is the map treating you?”

“Oh,” he said, suddenly sobering up. “I… kind of… err, lost it. Professor Lupin confiscated it.”

“You want it back? I’m sure I can get the twins to steal it back,” I said, shrugging. It was no big deal.

“No… it’s kay he pointed out that… maybe it was a bad idea this year with Sirius Black,” he gulped. “Besides, I think it was wrong. I saw someone on there who is dead.”

“The map is never wrong,” I deadpanned, staring at him. “You must have read it wrong.”

“Maybe.”

He didn’t look convinced, yet he didn’t look like he wanted to elaborate on it either. “I heard from the twins your aunt and uncle aren’t very, err, friendly,” I stared at him. “They had to explain when I heard the story of the flying car.”

He laughed. “That was insane.”

“It sounds it,” I smiled. “You live in Little Whinging, right? We don’t live too far, I’m in Iver. I think I used to have a cousin where you live, actually, but they moved away up to Sheffield when I was really little,” I trailed off, laughing. “I’m rambling, aren’t I? Anyway, I’m sure if you needed to get away my parents wouldn’t mind if you came and stayed for a few days, we could pick you up. The house isn’t very big, you’d have to share with Felix, but you’d be away from them?”

“What?” he asked, staring at me dumbly. “Why?”

“I-I mean- “

“No,” he shook his head. “I mean… we’re not friends, I mean…” he sighed, obviously struggling with his words. “We are friends, but we’re not close like you are with the twins.”

“So?” I stared at him. “You live in an awful situation with no place to escape to whenever you need to. Harry, I’d offer the same to anyone of my friends, I even offered it to Summer’s older sister in her final year.”

“She has a sister?”

“Yes, her name is Anita.”

“She doesn’t talk about her family often.”

I sighed. “Anita has a… bad relationship with her father. Her mother wouldn’t stand up for her, so she started to… not get on with her,” I gave him a firm look. “She doted on Summer, when she was in her final year she wanted to move out and take Summer with her. I remember Anita ranting about it to Charlie-“ he gave me a look. “Weasley. Anita and Charlie were a thing until she found out she liked girls,” I cleared my throat, watching his shocked face. “It didn’t really go down well, she moved out and left Summer with her parents. You know, I don’t know why things were so bad. I mentioned it to Summer when I found out who she was, but she said she had no idea what was up. Her father doted on her, she loves him to bits. She tried to blame it on her being Slytherin, until she pointed out her father was also one. Maybe they had a personality clash? But I doubt it, Anita was probably the nicest Slytherin I’ve ever met.”

“Slytherin!?”

I laughed. “Yes, Summer’s elder sister was a Slytherin.”

“What was she like?”

I hummed for a moment. How could I explain Anita? “She liked to be centre of attention, more than Summer, she craved it almost. She fed off attention, she liked to be well liked, and she was more charismatic than Cedric,” I laughed. “She was very intelligent, and very ambitious. I think she even puts Percy to shame. I’d bet Summer learned all the hexes she uses against Malfoy from her.”

“Where is she now?” he asked, suddenly very curious. I suppose it was odd, Summer having a Slytherin for an elder sister, and one who had been involved with Ron’s elder brother.

“I have no idea, I didn’t keep in contact with her. You could ask Summer, but she doesn’t really like talking about it… I think she resents her for leaving. I could ask Charlie?” I shrugged. “I’m sure he keeps in contact with her. She did want to become an Auror, she really hates the dark arts. Ironic, really, considering she’s a Slytherin. I mean, I know they have a bad reputation for it, but it just seems funny. Hufflepuff is the house that’s never had a dark witch or wizard, you’d think she fits in there more…” I frowned. “Maybe her ambition, her desire t-t-to-“ I broke off yawning. “To succeed put her there. She looks nothing like Summer, though. She has the same hair, but her eyes are brown, and she has sharp features. Summer’s are soft and round. Anita is tall and striking,” I yawned again. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I think I should sleep.”

“Y-yeah, no problem.”

I smiled, he was a good kid. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly. “Look after Summer for me, okay? She’s a special person, she needs to be protected, maybe from herself more than anything, but I would do absolutely anything for her.”

“I-I you make it sound like I’m going to drag her into trouble.”

I threw my head back, laughing. “Well, she’s hanging out with you a lot, and you’re a magnet for danger, Harry. She can handle herself, I’d just rather she didn’t have to. She’s more sensitive to things than it seems….” I made my way to the stairs. “G’night, Harry.”

Anita and I hadn’t really been ‘friends’ in school, I only knew her through Charlie, but I remembered her being beautiful and strict. I wasn’t sure how she came to date him, considering he was so laid-back and she was anything back. Plus, she hated being outdoors. I couldn’t help but wonder what she thought of how Summer was turning out, Summer reckoned that Anita had cried from happiness when she’d been sorted into Hufflepuff, but she didn’t speak anything other than that about her. I wondered if they were even in contact, I couldn’t see that they weren’t, but…. I sighed, resolving myself to talk to Summer about it after exams. I knew it would be a difficult conversation, and if all else failed, I could just bully her into flirting with Neville instead.

Exams were hell.

Any of the exam hells that we’d had the previous years were washed out of our minds on the first day of OWL’s. We sat written exams in the first morning, for Charms and Transfiguration. Followed by the practical exam for both in the evening. I was positive I had messed up both badly, Fred and George were confident in charms, Lee in transfiguration and Angelina was worried she’d gone off on too much of a tangent on cheering charms. The upside was it was two subjects fewer that we had to worry about. I felt Astronomy went well, but my divination was so bad I was almost certain she was going to give me a fail mark. I was positive I at least passed history of magic and defence. I felt as though I messed up the practical examination for the latter. 

On the fourth day we had an empty morning since we only had two practical exams in the afternoon, so I spent the morning cramming herbology with Cedric. He was surprisingly put together, though he was obsessing over a few details in the charms exam. 

“I’m certain I did badly.”

I snorted. “Cedric, you’re really intelligent. Not to mention brilliant, did I ever say that?” I laughed. “If you did badly then I’m about to be kicked out of Hogwarts.”

He grinned. “When is your care of magical creatures’ exam? I have Arithmancy and Ancient runes tomorrow morning.”

“I have it after herbology this afternoon,” I murmured. “All I have tomorrow is potions, and the written part for Herbology and then I’m done.”

We both fell silent. It hadn’t occurred to me how quickly they’d be over. The days were going so fast, there was no time to barely think. I woke up, ate breakfast, went over notes, was usually subject to some form of unfunny joke from Fred which would make me laugh so much I couldn’t focus on my notes, then I’d sit exams, take a break between, then sit more exams, have dinner then revise for the exams the day after. I’d taken to going to bed earlier during exams, I stood by my idea that if I wasn’t prepared by now, I wasn’t going to be prepared in one evening. 

Fred and George were most worried about potions; they didn’t want to do well in it, just wanted to at least pass it. They figured it could come in handy and I quite agreed and had spent a lot of time focusing on it with them. Charlie had given me pointers for revising for the magical creature’s owl, to which Fred had teased me endlessly, and George had simply said it wasn’t fair he would help me and not them. Even when I pointed out they didn’t take that class, they said it wasn’t the point.

Then, finally, exams were over.

The moment my final exam, potions, ended, I rushed straight out of the hall and to the shady spot under a tree near the lake. The weather was gorgeous being late spring, and the sun was low in the sky that evening. “I’m so glad it’s over!” I said happily to Summer. She was still in the middle of her exams and was glaring at me as she fawned over notes. Neville was with her, trying to help her with herbology. “How many do you have left?”

“Three,” she sighed. “Lupins was fun, though. He made a sort of assault course for us. Even a boggart at the end.”

“Oh?”

Summer nodded. “I think I lost marks on it,” she said, her voice going low. “I really freaked out.”

“What was it?” I moved closer to her. Neville was watching and listening carefully.

“Me… well, a mirror, really… and it was me and… well I was a Slytherin and… I was betraying my friends in that-“ she looked away. “It was awful. I couldn’t think of anything funny, there’s nothing funny about that situation.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I shrugged. “There’s nothing Slytherin about you.”

“My father was one.”

I watched her for a moment. “Summer,” I started, knowing it was now or never. “I want to talk to you about Anita.”

She froze, her blue eyes going wide. That was odd; she was close with Anita, or at least that was the impression I had always gotten from the way Anita would speak about her. She looked over at Neville and bit her lip.

“I-I can leave, if-“

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I don’t have anything to hide…” she sighed deeply, staring up at me. “She had a really big argument with dad after she graduated, not like that’s anything new. She really wanted me to move out with her, some nonsense about getting me away from him. I don’t understand her vendetta against him.”

“Have you ever asked her?”

“I did, but she said I was too young to know… I thought maybe he hurt her, but I’ve never seen a single mark on her, and he’s never hurt me at all… I don’t understand it. Mum was really upset, but as usual she didn’t say anything to stop them. It ended when Anita said she no longer wanted anything to do with them, and that she was as bad as him for letting him stay in the house.”

Well, that was odd. “So where is she now?”

“She’s living in London, doing really well, actually,” Summer said, looking a little distant. “I saw her on my birthday last year, I stayed in her apartment since she refused to come home. She’s working in the auror office, acing all her auror exams, of course. She’s brilliant. Still, she has such a vendetta against them, dark wizards, I mean,” she added. “It’s like she thinks you-know-who is still at large…” she sighed. “She’s ridiculous.”

Neville shifted, looking a little uncomfortable, as if he didn’t know what to say. 

“Maybe she feels like she has something to prove,” I said. “She was Slytherin, she hated it. I remember her spending more time with the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws when she was here. She hated the idea of being associated with the things Slytherins represent… maybe it’s that?”

“Perhaps,” she murmured. “Mum was a Gryffindor, Anita really wanted me to be Gryffindor, but she was even happier that I was Hufflepuff. She reckoned it made me safe or something. I have no clue what she was on about.”

“Well, aurors are pretty odd. A lot of them are really paranoid,” I pointed out. “Have you thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?” I looked at them both.

“I guess something with herbology,” Neville murmured. It was his best subject and he really enjoyed it too, so I guess that made sense. “I haven’t thought about it.”

Summer nodded. “I haven’t thought about it either. Maybe a professional quidditch player? No studying for me!”

I sighed, shaking my head and hitting her with her notebook. “You still need to pass your exams.”

I vaguely wondered when they had stopped being so shy around each other, maybe some time when they were hanging out with Hermione? But it was nice to see. Summer seemed so happy with him. Eventually I let them alone, so I could take a walk. I went first to Hagrid’s to check on the Salamanders and see Buckbeak before his appeal, Hagrid wasn’t really handling it too well. Despite all of Hermione and Ron’s work, Hagrid was under no false ideas that Buckbeak was going to get off easily. 

The classes at the end of term were a lot more relaxed, even Snape just gave us easy work to do and peered at us, repeating over and over about how there was no point giving an overview of what we’d study at NEWT level because he didn’t expect any of us to join him there. “Bloody git,” Fred muttered, throwing himself onto his bed. “Who would want to take his stupid class just to get abused by him? Unfair it is.”

I laughed, sitting on George’s bed and watching Fred. Angelina lingered at the end of Fred’s bed, watching him for a few moments, before sitting on Lee’s. “Well, it’s the end of term now, Freddie. No more Snape.”

“You know this year has been surprisingly quiet, Harry has only nearly gotten killed… three times, is it?” George said, laughing. 

“There’s still a few days left,” Lee pointed out.

I groaned. “Don’t, please don’t.”

“Arte,” George said, sitting beside me and raising his eyebrows. “Would you care for a bet?”

“On?” I watched him suspiciously.

“If Harry goes the rest of this year without being involved in something dangerous, you have to do everything I say for a day.”

“And if he gets involved in something?” I asked, leaning closer to him.

“You will get one wish from me, and I’ll do everything in my power to make it come true.”

I scoffed. “That hardly seems a fair trade.”

“Scared, Taylor?”

“Oh, you’re on, Georgie. Just you watch, there’s time yet for Harry to break every single school rule yet again.”

It had only been light hearted, but when we awoke the day after, it was to news that Ron, Hermione, and Harry were in the hospital wing. Sirius Black and Snape had been involved in something with the three of them and gotten away again, and according to some Slytherin’s over breakfast, Professor Lupin (who was absent at breakfast) was a werewolf. “Of course,” I muttered. “It makes sense, he always vanishes around the full moon.”

“You really paid that much attention?” Fred muttered. “I want to go see Ron.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, smiling when Ginny said she wanted to go too. “I’m going to check in with Hagrid and see how he is after Buckbeak-“ I choked, looking away. “Stupid Malfoy.” I paused. “George, I believe you owe me a wish.”

He groaned. “What do you want?”

I gave him a sly smile. “I’m going to hold onto it for now, but you should really not bet against Harry breaking every single school rule. I thought you were intelligent!”

Despite being worried about the three in the hospital wing, I couldn’t hide my joy when Hagrid exclaimed, loudly, to me, that Buckbeak had somehow escaped. I vaguely wondered if Harry had something to do with it and would ask him about it another time, but for now it was just nice to listen to Hagrid sound so happy. 

And then, the school year was suddenly over. The trip back to London was somewhat surreal, even the twins were quiet in the compartment. Angelina and Lee were talking about the Quidditch world cup, and I noticed Fred kept looking over at her. I grinned, elbowing George and nodding towards it. He just gave me a grin in reply, and the pair of us decided to play a game of exploding snap, which Apollo didn’t quite approve of.

“We’re officially sixth years, how odd is that?” I laughed when we eventually got off the train.

“Not as odd as the fact you still didn’t grow,” a deep voice said behind me.

I jumped, looking over. “Felix!” I rushed over, hugging him tightly. “You… you grew!” I stared up at him, suddenly dreading what had happened to Selene. I really hoped I wasn’t the last one to ‘bloom’. Felix had grown at least two feet since Christmas, and he’d grown out his hair a little bit. His face was still soft and youthful, but there were hints of the same chiselled features our father had there. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I think you’re taller than Selene at least.”

I laughed. I said goodbye to the twins, Lee, and Angelina with a promise to see the former over summer since I would be going with their family to the world cup. I’d given up going on the family holiday this year in exchange for a ticket. It seemed like this year, everything was going to change. It would be the first year I wouldn’t spend summer with them entirely, and the first time I wouldn’t go on the family holiday; the start of our worlds drifting apart. And so, as I said goodbye to Cedric and them to Summer and Neville, I resolved to spend as much time as I could with Selene and Felix while I could. 


	9. Charlie

Things had changed at home. For one, we moved out of the old house and into a newer one in the same town. Selene got her own room this time, and I had the smallest bedroom since I spent most of the time away. I wanted to say it didn’t bother me, but I had noticed a gap between us. She got on fine with Felix, and Felix and I were okay, but there was something between Selene and I which seemed distant. It wasn’t that she was hostile to me or avoided me, it was more a case of we now had so little in common that she almost wasn’t my sister anymore. Her hair was longer, and she’d dyed it blonde at some point. She’d also got her nose pierced and wore thick makeup, spending a lot of her time out of the house with her friends. Mum reckoned she was going through a rebellious phase, that she wanted to stand out more; Felix was the ‘favourite’ and the smartest of us all, and I was the magical one. She believed Selene just felt like _the other one_. 

The result was I spent a lot of time alone or with Felix when he wasn’t with his girlfriend. I spent a lot of summer sending owls to Charlie and the twins, and while at the beginning of summer I had been excited to come home, I now couldn’t wait to leave. 

“She’ll be okay,” dad said one day when we were working in the garden. It was a beautiful day and with nothing else to do, he and I had decided the garden needed some love. With a pang I thought of Neville and in turn Summer and I missed them all. “She’s just trying to find her identity.”

“I just don’t like that she won’t talk to me about it….” I shook my head. “I’m so used to Fred and George being so close as twins… I guess if Selene had been a witch too it would have been different,” I stared at him carefully. “She doesn’t… resent me, does she? For leaving her here?”

“What? No, I don’t think so,” he frowned, thinking. 

“I just… I mean, she always wanted to come, but she hasn’t said a thing about it all summer.”

“To be fair she hasn’t said much of anything over summer.”

I laughed.

“Missy!”

I rolled my eyes, looking over to the door where mum stood clutching a thick envelope in her hand. “Some owl just dropped this off, it looks important.”

I dropped the trowel I had in my hand and inhaled. It was too early for booklists, which meant that—“My results.”

Those two words caused my parents to fall silent. This was a big deal, I didn’t want to be the ‘family disappointment’, and yet as I thought of Selene I couldn’t help but hope I hadn’t done well so she would feel better; she’d passed all her exams perfectly.

“Well, open it,” mum said anxiously, shoving the envelope into my hands.

My hands shook fiercely as I slowly opened it up. I reminded myself of McGonagall’s conditions and I gulped. What if I hadn’t passed anything? “I-I’m scared. Dad, you look-“ I handed the half open envelope to him.

“Alright,” he said, taking it. Mum hurried to his side and they both peered at the paper. “What are these letters? O… for outstanding? What odd letters.”

I inhaled, grabbing the letter from him. He was taking too long, and it made me anxious. I peered down at the words on the paper. My eyes drew straight to the fail grades; just one, Divination. That didn’t surprise me, but I was glad it was the only one there. I let out a small sigh of relief and looked at the others. “An O in potions and care of magical creatures,” I said, half in awe of myself. Potions! “And an E in transfiguration, herbology, charms, and defence against the dark arts-“ I choked, I had gotten more than enough E and O grades for McGonagall’s conditions. “And an A in astronomy and history of magic- oh!” I almost couldn’t believe it. I re-read the paper, laughing to myself. “I did it… I actually did it!”

Mum took the letter off me to look herself. “These grades are confusing-“

“No, look here,” Dad said, pointing to the grading guide on the top of the letter. “What did you need to get, squirt?”

“At least five E’s, but I more than did that! I need to go write to the others and see what they got!”

I spent a good part of the afternoon penning letters to my favourite people, I even wrote to Harry to see how he was getting on, reminding him of my promise to let him get way if he needed it. I selfishly hoped he would take me up on it, I couldn’t imagine spending a few more weeks alone.

As a celebration, we ordered in Chinese food for dinner. Selene sat with a sour face and left first. “Okay, that’s it,” I muttered, hurrying after her.

“Arte-!” Felix yelled. I heard him run after me. “Just leave her-“

“I absolutely won’t leave her! I’m only going to be here for a few more weeks then I’m leaving again, and she wants to spend a few days acting like this!?” I pushed her door open without knocking. “What the hell is your problem?”

“You!” She snapped. 

“Well, spit it out!”

“Girls, come on-“ Felix pleaded.

“Butt out,” she snapped at him, then looked at me. “You’re leaving early to go hang out with your friends.”

“Yes?” I frowned. “England is hosting the Quidditch world cup-“

“So we moved the family holiday to Christmas, but you’re going to stay at school then… you’re not coming home? Not even for our birthday? It’s going to be an entire year before we see you.”

Felix and I both stared at her. Was that really what she was so upset about? “Oh, Selene…” I moved to her side. 

“You’re abandoning me.”

“N-no, I’m not,” I said quickly. “But this has been coming for a while, no? We’re all sixteen… in two years we will be eighteen, and the pair of you will go to university, and I’ll have left Hogwarts… we won’t be seeing each other often then-“

“So why aren’t you making the most of the time left?” she asked weakly.

I didn’t know what to say, honestly I felt a little angry that she wanted me to pass up an event like the Quidditch world cup for her, and as for Christmas, Charlie had just mentioned in a letter that I was ‘absolutely going to want to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays’. Everyone had been fine with it. This had been coming for a while, I had a separate life from all of them now.

“Selene,” Felix said suddenly. I looked at him. “Stop being so selfish and think how she feels. You still have me, mum, dad; who does she have? She went to that school entirely alone with no idea what she was in for. She was miserable for the first few years, or don’t you remember?”

“I do,” she said quickly, looking rather ashamed of herself.

“And now she has her own friends… do you want her to be miserable again?”

“No.”

Felix snapping at her didn’t improve things much, but Selene did start talking more. At least for a week, anyway, after that she stopped looking sorry for herself and came into my room to help me while dad and I were decorating it. I had to admit, it was nice to have my own space. I could decorate it with Quidditch posters and other things from school, and since no one would come in here while I was away, there was no fear of muggles seeing it.

“Here,” she said apprehensively, offering me two letters. Apollo was on her shoulder looking very proud of himself. 

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking them from her. Apollo hooted gently. “My booklist is here,” I frowned, opening it up. It seemed normal until—“A formal dress? What on earth do I need one of those for?”

“Ooo!” Selene said loudly. “We can go dress shopping in London! Maybe…” she looked at dad and then back at me. “Maybe you can… invite some of your friends… your other ones, I mean. The girls.”

I smiled at her. “Actually, that’s a good idea. I can ask Angelina and Summer to come along, I think you’ll like them!” I turned my attention to the other letter. “This one is from Charlie,” I hummed. For a while our letters had stopped being exclusively about dragons and studies, in fact I couldn’t remember the last educational question I had asked him, but it was nice. He was very easy to get on with. “He’s going to pick me up to go to their house on Sunday,” I looked at dad. “About four in the afternoon.”

Selene was a lot better after that, even more so when we took the trip to London. To my surprise, it wasn’t just Angelina and Summer we met in the leaky cauldron, but Anita was there too. Life after Hogwarts had done her good, she was more beautiful than ever, and she had a lovely smile on her face as she laughed with Angelina. “Artemis!” Summer said happily, almost tackling me down. “Oh, and you must be Selene,” she said, peering at her. “Nice to meet you! I’m Summer.”

“Angelina,” she smiled, nodding her head.

Selene smiled shyly. “I hope you don’t mind me joining.”

“Not at all.”

I smiled at Anita. “It’s been a while. Summer didn’t say you’d be here.”

“She’s staying with me for a few days,” she said smoothly. I’d forgotten that she had a beautiful voice too. In fact, there wasn’t anything about her which wasn’t beautiful and graceful. Selene seemed to be in a trance. “And I have the day off from work, so I thought I’d tag along.”

“She won’t tell me why we need nice dresses,” Summer muttered.

The shopping trip took the entire day. We had lunch at the leaky cauldron and browsed both muggle stores and magical ones for dresses. Selene was looking for something herself, though what I didn’t know. She spent a lot of the time talking with Anita, rather animatedly. 

Almost every dress looked amazing on Summer. She’d filled out a tiny bit over summer, looking more of a woman than I did. I muttered, feeling rather self-conscious about it. “I wonder if there’s a spell to make puberty hit,” I muttered to Angelina, feeling rather envious that she had ample bosom for most dresses.

She laughed at me. “You don’t need it, this dress looks good on you,” she said, motioning to the one I’d tried on first. It was rather simple, but the colour was a bright red. I’d been so attracted to it, almost like a magpie. Selene had tried it on for fun, too, but it looked awful on her. The green ones suited her much better.

I had to admit the ‘girls day out’ was nice. Selene spent a lot of time asking Anita about magic, since she hadn’t really seen any and was in awe of every spell she cast. Anita loved it, of course she did, she loved being centre of attention. Selene couldn’t shut up talking about her the entire train journey home, was she smitten with her? I smirked hugely.

Soon enough it was Sunday, and it was a beautiful day at that. We’d had a late breakfast in the garden and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun. I helped dad a bit more with the garden, my stuff already packed and in the living room ready. The closer it got to four the more I could tell they were all waiting for a knock on the door. I assumed he was apparating and he’d take me to his house side-along. “It’s weird, when I see you guys next I’ll be legally allowed to do magic outside of school,” I murmured. 

“You better not do anything to me,” Felix said wearily.

I laughed, turning my head when my mother shot up. “Did she hear the door?”

True enough she returned a few moments later with Charlie trailing behind her. I hadn’t seen him in four years, but he hadn’t changed a bit. I almost leaped at him, hugging him tightly. It wasn’t even awkward, I felt like I knew him well. “Charlie! It’s been a long time!”

“Hey!” he smiled hugely. “You haven’t grown at all, George wasn’t lying.”

I groaned, hitting his chest. “You’re all awful, just you wait, like I said to them, I’m going to grow so tall I’ll make Hagrid look like Flitwick.” He laughed at the image and I took him in. His hair had grown and he… well, he looked good. A few burns and scars and I wanted to know every single story behind each of them, no doubt he had fascinating stories. “I saw Anita the other day.”

“Oh?” His eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Anita?” Selene asked, suddenly interested.

I laughed. “She said hi,” I said to him. 

“How is she doing?”

I shrugged. “She got more beautiful, it was rather sickening,” I laughed. “This is Felix,” I said, motioning to my brother. “And this is Selene, and my mum, Nancy, and my dad, Peter.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Taylor,” he smiled hugely.

“Oh, you’re very kind, dear,” mum said, taking him in. “Would you care to stay for some dinner?”

“Mum,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. 

He laughed. “I would, but I’m afraid mum has me on a strict schedule, so we should leave,” he looked down at his watch and nodded. “All packed?”

“Yeah, my trunk is in the living room. I just need to send Apollo off,” I nodded, hurrying up to my room to let him out. I could hear chatter from them all and I smiled happily. I was glad to see him, but I couldn’t wait to really talk with him when it was politer to just talk amongst ourselves. “Hey, you,” I smiled, letting Apollo out. “I’ll let you fly there, yeah?” he nipped my finger affectionately. “Go stretch your wings, boy.”

My mum got the most emotional when it came to say goodbye; she always did. I wanted to comment how she was acting like she wasn’t going to see me for ages, but then I reminded myself it really was going to be almost an entire year. Felix hugged me tightly, demanding I write more this year, and Selene almost glued herself to me. It took my dad pulling her off to say his own goodbye to stop her. She then stalked off into the house.

“She doesn’t like the idea of me being away for so long,” I murmured to Charlie as we walked inside.

“Where is your car?” Mum asked. “We can help take her things.”

I laughed.

“What?”

“Oh, there’s no car, Mrs Taylor,” Charlie chuckled, magicking my things off to his family’s house quickly. “We’re travelling the magical way.”

“Apparating,” I said, seeing my mum’s face. “It’s… well, going from one place to another instantly, kind of… I learn how to do it this year,” I groaned.

Charlie grinned. “Careful you don’t throw up; most people do first time.”

“Oh, you’re awful.”

“Hold onto my arm tightly.”

I did as he said, wrapping my arm around his and clinging to it for extra measure. Then he turned on the spot, and suddenly there was a pop and it was the worst sensation. I’d rather have a bludger hit at my head five times over. When we appeared again I clung to him for a bit longer to keep myself up. “My god that was awful.”

“You did well,” he assured, patting my hand softly. “Anyway, this is my family’s house.”

I followed his gaze to the cottage and smiled warmly. The Burrow looked like such a lovely place, full of love. I could hear voices from the open door, I only recognised Mrs. Weasley’s of them. “I love it,” I said in awe, following him into the house. Inside it was even more cosy and I found myself rather wishing I lived here.

“Oh, you’re here!” Mrs. Weasley said happily, greeting me with a warm hug. I was shocked at how loving she was. 

“This is my elder brother, Bill,” Charlie said, motioning to the other boy sat at the table. 

Bill had long hair and was, well… cool, for a lack of a better word. “Nice to meet you.”

“Artemis, right? I heard a lot about you from the twins.”

I groaned. “Everything they’ve said is a total lie.”

Charlie grinned. “Apart from the being short.”

I sighed deeply. “Where are they, anyway?”

“In their room,” Charlie said quietly. “They didn’t do too well in their OWL’s, so they’ve been hauled up in there.”

“I’ve sent your things up to Ginny’s room already, dear,” Mrs Weasley said softly. “We’ll be eating when Arthur gets home, it’s only you extra now so we should still fit in the kitchen, Charlie, do show her to Ginny’s room, yes?”

“Yeah, come see the house!”

He didn’t show me instantly, instead taking me through the other rooms. He seemed to have small anecdotal stories for each room, so it took a while. Ginny was on her bed reading, Ron was at the window, trying to convince her to play a game of quidditch with him and both greeted me with a smile, but then he pointed the other rooms out. “Percy is here,” he motioned to a closed door. “Or well, he is when he’s not at work,” he rolled his eyes. “Try not to disturb him.”

“Don’t worry, I try to stay away from him,” I mumbled, though my mood lightened considerably when we came to a room beyond which I could hear laughter which only belonged to George. I’d missed them so much.

“We can catch up more later, yeah?” Charlie smiled. “Go see them.”

I didn’t need telling twice. He left me there and I passed, knocking on the door. The laughter went silent for a bit. “Who is it?”

“Just open the door, you total git.”

The door flew open and I was tackled by two balls of red hair. I vaguely heard Ron telling them to keep it down from Ginny’s room. “Arte! When did you get here?” George asked, pulling me into their room.

“About half an hour ago,” I smiled, looking around. “Charlie was showing me around.”

“Your dragon prince,” Fred laughed, clearing some sweets off one bed for me to sit down. “Is he as dreamy as you remembered?”

“You arse,” I sighed, picking up one of the sweets. “What is this?”

“That, squirt,” Fred started. “Is one of our new products. Ton-tongue toffee! They make your tongue grow and grow, we haven’t quite figured out how to stop it yet, but we have a whole load of things we thought up!”

And indeed, they did. Fake wands, the starting’s of some ‘skiving snack boxes’, and even more ideas than they’d left before summer with. I was in awe listening to them. They really believed in this idea, and I couldn’t blame them; if there was one thing the world always needed more of, it was laughter and light-hearted fun.

“How were your OWL’s?” George asked. “Did you get enough for McGonagall?”

“Yes! I got two O’s too, potions and magical creatures.”

Fred threw his head back to laugh, almost cackling. “You’re going to be with Snape for two extra years? I don’t’ envy you.”

I stuck my tongue out. “Snape happens to be pleasant to me, it’s just you two he doesn’t like. Wonder why that could be.”

“Maybe because we don’t pay attention,” George suggested. 

“How many OWL’s did you get? Charlie mentioned your mum wasn’t too happy.”

They looked at each other and then sighed. “We got six between us.”

I wanted to say I wasn’t disappointed, but I was. I understood them, I did, but six between them…. It was such a waste. They were so intelligent and bright, with the ability to do many things, and while they’d chosen the thing they wanted to…. 

“Don’t look like that, Arty,” George murmured. “You know how we feel.”

“I know,” I smiled weakly. “I’m just glad you’re coming back at all.”

Dinner was a tight fit, and I was stuck between Fred and Charlie and across from Bill. There was a lot of conversation, most of it between Charlie and I about his work. Bill chimed in every now and then, and I told him the story of last Christmas. After dinner a few of us navigated outside, it was such a lovely summer evening and we wanted to enjoy the cool air. The twins returned to their bedroom, and Percy returned to his report he was working on. He was very proud of his job, and the twins had quickly told me to not ask him about it. Ron left with the twins, though they told him to ‘piss off’ a lot the way upstairs. 

“Hermione will be here tomorrow,” Charlie said to me. We were sat apart from the others, having found a nice spot to watch the sky turn beautiful shades of pink and purple. “And Harry a few days after that. I guess it will be a tighter squeeze then.”

“I love it here,” I murmured. “It’s so cosy.”

“Your house is nice too; your parents are really nice.”

I sighed, quickly telling him about the issues with Selene. “I guess I’m worried. I’ve known for a while that our lives will go separate ways but… now it’s happening… I look at Fred and George and I feel kid of envious, you know? They always have each other, I don’t think anything could separate them for long. But with me and my other two Me’s…” I stared at him. “No matter what I decide to do, we’re always going to have a gap between us. I just… I guess I didn’t think it was going to be so big and so sudden.”

“I have to admit it was odd seeing you three, I thought it was going to be like seeing Fred and George, but you’re all really different. Felix and Selene seem more alike.”

“I would say I wished I wasn’t a witch but… I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” I murmured, staring at the sky now. “It’s too much fun, always something new!” I laughed, stretching my legs out in front of me. “Plus, we have dragons.”

He grinned. “So, I heard you went on a date.”

“What?!” I laughed. “Why on earth did they tell you about Cedric?”

“Honestly, no idea. Fred just blurted it out.”

I laughed again. “We went on a date, but he kissed me and, well… nothing happened,” I rubbed my neck, feeling awkward. “So, we decided to just be friends. It’s odd, I thought I really liked him, but looking back I guess I didn’t. So, I have absolutely no idea how to tell if I like someone,” I said, now picking at some blades of grass and a few daisies.

“The only girl I ever liked was Anita,” he said. “You just kind of know, I guess. Maybe it doesn’t help but they make you smile a lot, their happiness is important to you… you feel better just by being near them.”

“But I feel that way about a lot of people,” I said, sighing dramatically as I fell backwards. “How do I know if I actually like someone or not?”

“Why? Someone got your eye?”

I snorted. “The only people I talk to are you and the twins. Sometimes Harry, but he’s too young for me.”

Charlie laughed. “Neither of the twins then?”

“Ew,” I sat up, staring at him. “George is like a brother to me.”

“But Fred?”

“Is a git,” I laughed. “He’s my best friend, that’s just weird.”

He shrugged at me and added in a voice far too serious for the conversation. “They say your best friend is the one most ideal.”

“I class Cedric as one of my best friends, too, Charlie, but that didn’t work,” I sighed, shaking my head. “I’ve never seen Fred or George that way I guess, I’ve never even thought about it.”

He gave me the strangest look I couldn’t figure out. Like I was the topic of a conversation only he knew. It was too awkward to talk about this anyway, especially about his younger brothers. “Hagrid said I’m going to be able to help him out this year, I’m really excited, I wonder what we’re going to be doing.”

“Probably have you in the forest, make sure to stay away from Aragog. Never seen him but heard a lot.”

I laughed. “Isn’t that the Acromantula? Yeah, no thanks,” I shivered. 

“Scared of a spider?”

“Spiders don’t bother me, but giant man-eating spiders? Yeah, they bother me,” I grinned up at him.

Hermione arrived the day after, and Mrs. Weasley made another impressive dinner. I was again sat next to Fred and Charlie, but this time spoke more with Fred, Charlie chiming in every now and then, though he was strangely quiet when Fred and I started bickering when he wasn’t satisfied I was eating enough and had put more food on my plate. “You’re not my mother,” I hissed.

“Come on, you ate so little.”

“I’m on a diet.”

He scoffed. “You hardly need it, you devoured an entire cake last year-“

“Which is why I need it.”

Hermione was staring at us, giving me the same look Charlie had given me the previous night, so I then distracted myself by getting to know Bill a bit better. Some part of me wanted to avoid Charlie that night, though I wasn’t sure why, and I didn’t succeed. Even though I spoke at length with Bill, Charlie was talking with us too. Bill was very interesting, his job sounded dangerous and exciting. Mrs. Weasley kept trying to get both to have their hair cut while they were home.

The sky was dark when Mrs. Weasley ushered us all to bed, but Hermione, Ginny, and I stayed up quite late talking. “You get on really well with Charlie,” Hermione commented.

“We have a lot in common, we’ve been writing to each other since Christmas,” I shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal, not really. “He’s given me a lot of advice, and he was really good to me in my first few years at Hogwarts.”

Ginny giggled. “Do you like him?”

“What? N-no, I don’t think so.”

Hermione hummed. “I don’t think so either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re more like… how you are with George around him.”

“You’re not making any sense, Hermione.”

She sighed deeply and waved her hand absently. “What about you and Cedric Diggory?”

“Oooh!” Ginny said happily. “He’s that good looking Hufflepuff, right? The seeker?”

I snorted. “Don’t you like Harry?”

“I gave up on him,” she mumbled. “He doesn’t like me back, so no point, right? We’re friends.”

“I think we should talk about Ron and Hermione.”

“Oh, please no,” she said quickly, covering her face with a pillow. “I’d really rather not.” Ginny and I howled with laughter.

“Neville and Summer.”

“Maybe this year is the year they finally admit they like each other,” Hermione suggested, then turned to Ginny who didn’t know Summer well. “They really like each other, it’s obvious, but they used to just go too shy around each other. She couldn’t say two words to him. They got a lot better last year, so who knows.”

I almost couldn’t wait to see Neville’s reaction to how Summer had changed over the holiday, how much prettier she’d gotten. Hermione seemed to have matured some too, and again I felt a strange uneasiness. I had never cared too much about how I looked, I’d never really felt like I had to, but I was feeling more and more like perhaps I should start.

Harry arrived a few days after that, with a large fuss courtesy of the twins. I’d been in the kitchen talking with Charlie about some dragon breeds, with Bill commenting every now and then when he’d appeared through the floo network, the twins just after, almost rolling around the floor with laughter. Turns out they’d ‘accidentally’ dropped some of their toffees for Harry’s overweight cousin to pick up an eat. If Mr. Weasley had been angry at them, it was nothing to Mrs. Weasley.

The moment she started yelling at them, Hermione and Ron vanished upstairs with Harry, and Charlie dragged me out in the garden to help set up for dinner, since there were now too many of us to stay inside. Plus, the weather was too beautiful to not be making the most of it outside. “Sometimes I wonder if they’re ever going to calm down,” he said to me quite seriously.

I snorted. “Would you have them any other way?”

“No,” he grinned.

I laughed. “Have you heard some of their ideas? They’re really intelligent, they have brilliant minds on them.”

“It’s just a bit… ambitious, isn’t it?” Bill asked. “I believe they can do it, but how? They certainly don’t have the kind of money needed to start a joke shop of the size they want. They’re not stupid, they know this, but they get so carried away.”

“I used to think the same,” I said. “But one day I really listened to them, they have such passion and conviction for it… if anyone is going to succeed it’s them. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but they’re going to. They kind of make you want to root for them, no?” I grinned.

“Maybe, but for now, you must root for me,” Charlie grinned. When I raised an eyebrow in question he just turned to Bill and moved back a few steps. It was then they both raised their wands, and suddenly tables were clattering into each other. Honestly! 

“I can’t wait to do magic outside of school,” I laughed, clapping my hands happily.

Harry and the other’s joined us not long after, Mrs. Weasley getting them to help set up for dinner, and not long after that, Fred and George came out. Both had sour looks on their faces as they sat either side of me. “Arte, we want to move in with you,” Fred joked weakly.

“Don’t do it, Missy,” Charlie said loudly. “Your tiny house won’t survive.”

I laughed. “I’d do anything for these two, I’m a total sucker for their charms.”

George grinned, looking a bit happier. “I know you’re joking, but considering the trouble we get you into, I’d say you’re right.”

“We should be merciful to her, Georgie,” Fred said seriously. “Poor girl obviously has it bad for her, how do we let her down easily?”

I hit his chest, laughing more. “Please, if anyone has it bad for you, it’s Angelina.”

“Oh?”

“Here we go,” George said rolling his eyes.

“She asked about you a lot when I saw her the other day,” I said simply, standing up and dusting grass off my jeans. 

“Did she? What else did she say?”

“Fred,” I laughed, shaking my head at him. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to grow a pair and ask her yourself.”

He stared up at me dumbly while George howled with laughter. I just grinned, leaving him there as I went inside to help Mrs. Weasley. I wasn’t sure what it was, I just felt the sudden need to walk around. Honestly, I felt a little sick. Had I picked up a stomach bug of some sort? I hoped not, the world cup was soon, and I didn’t want to be ill during it. 

It was nice helping Mrs. Weasley, though. She’d done a lot of it with magic, but I helped her as much as I could without it. She was nice to talk to as well. It made me miss my mum a lot. I knew it wasn’t as if I wasn’t ever going to see her again, but I couldn’t help but feel the next time I would see her, absolutely everything was going to be different. I just had a bad feeling about the following year, it made me want to go out and sit next to Fred and listen to his laughter. 

“We’re going to meet Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric, at the portkey,” Mr. Weasley said, coming into the kitchen. “So, we should get up early enough, Molly.”

I looked up. “Cedric?” I felt visibly happier and lighter from the news. I’d written with him a few times the past few weeks, but I really wanted to see him. Perhaps he could distract me from whatever was going on in my head now. 

“Yes, dear,” she chuckled. “That’s why we are having an early dinner. Though, you know they’ll be up late talking. They always are.”

I smiled fondly, watching her talk about her kids with all the love in the world. I understood Fred and George were annoyed at her for her seeming ‘lack of support’ for their dreams, but she loved them so much. There was no one in this world who had more love for their family than her, I was positive. I didn’t know how she did it, keeping this hectic, large family together, but she was one hell of a woman and I certainly respected her for it.


	10. Fear

Being an early riser has always come naturally to me. I get it from my mother, who got it from her father. We were always the first two in the house awake in the mornings, even when away on holiday. Felix was a light sleeper, but Selene could probably sleep through the house being on fire. She never understood how I could awaken so early and still be able to function. I didn’t see the issue; the more time spent in bed was time wasted. Even if I wasn’t doing anything else, it was time awake where possibilities could come to me. 

It favoured me again, the morning of the world cup as I found myself in the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. She’d greeted me warmly and ushered me to the table to get the first pick at breakfast while she went to wake the others. “Charlie said you’re going to become a magizoologist,” Mr. Weasley said.

I nodded eagerly, swallowing down some toast. “Yes, it fits me perfectly. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it before,” I smiled at him.

He chuckled. “I’ve never seen someone of your age up this early and so alert.”

I grinned hugely. “And miss the best picks at breakfast?” 

He laughed.

Almost all the others had a slow start. Hermione was the next one awake, and Mrs. Weasley was busy trying to get Ginny awake while she and I got changed. “Honestly,” she sighed.

“I can wake the twins for you,” I said happily. “I’ve done it a lot at school.”

“Would you, dear?” She smiled at me, before stalking up the stairs with Hermione to wake up Ron and Harry.

Fred and George were both very peaceful when they slept. Not a sound out of them, besides the odd mumble from George as he slept. It was always odd, seeing them so still and quiet, it always felt like a shame to disturb them. But I tried to do it as gently as possible, first sitting on the edge of George’s bed. “Oi, Georgie. Time to wake up.”

He murmured, pulling his covers over him. I laughed, patting his side gently. A few moments later, and he was staring at me, eyes half closed and hair a spectacular mess which resembled Harry’s usual hair. I grinned. “Mornin’.”

“Piss off,” he muttered.

“If you don’t get up your mum is going to come in and wake you up. I figured I was doing a favour,” I shrugged, standing up.

“Urgh, fine,” he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up.

George always woke up easily. Fred, on the other hand, was a different story. Lee knew how to wake him up, so I had learned a few tricks which also seemed to work on Selene. “Freddie!” I said loudly, jumping onto his bed to sit beside him. He mumbled, and I grinned, leaning over to pinch his ear softly.

“Geroff!!”

I giggled, keeping my hand there until he batted it away. “Breakfast is ready, come on. You know your dad will leave you behind if you don’t get up.”

Fred mumbled. “Bother someone else.”

I shook my head, grinning at George now sitting on the side of his bed. He was yawning and scratching his stomach, but then held his leg up so he could reach his slipper easily, and then threw it at the back of Fred’s head. “Wake up, git, if I have to be up so early, so do you.”

I gave him a thankful smile and laughed when Fred swore at him, just as Mrs. Weasley passed by the door. I slunk out quickly, listening to her yell at him. George was close behind me, laughing so much he was almost crying. “Beautiful start to the morning,” he said happily, plopping himself down at the table. Ginny was there with Hermione, almost falling asleep in her toast. “Look at this one.”

“Still doing better than Ronald though,” Hermione muttered. “He and Harry refused to budge until Mrs. Weasley said they would be left behind.”

The other good side to always being awake so early, was that I wasn’t rushing around like a headless chicken to remember everything. Hermione joined me outside to enjoy the crisp morning air, and soon Ginny was with us too. It was then the yelling started. “What happened?”

“Fred and George tried to smuggle some more of those toffees,” Ginny said between a yawn. “Mum just caught them, she’s livid.”

I winced, watching the door as George, then Fred stalked out. Both were the ones who looked livid, and they stormed right past us to stay by the gate. Mr. Weasley left next, saying a goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, who bid the rest of us farewell with hugs and kisses. Harry and Ron were the quiet two, stalking behind us all.

“And behave!” She called after the twins, who just acted as though they hadn’t heard her, and started off ahead of the others.

“Why don’t the others have to be up,” Ron mumbled.

“Because they will be apparating later,” Mr. Weasley said simply. “It’ll do you good.”

“I doubt it.”

I grinned, talking with Hermione for some of the journey. I figured it was best to give the twins some space, neither of them was looking very happy, they’d calm down eventually, but I doubted I could say anything which neither of them didn’t already know, and honestly, Fred and I had been bickering so much I didn’t want to risk a bull blown argument.

“How much further?” Ginny asked quietly.

“Should be around he-“

“Arthur!”

We all looked over to the man who had called Mr. Weasley. “Over here!” He called again, waving his hand. “We found it.”

Behind him lingered a boy with honey coloured hair and grey eyes. Tall, with perfect cheekbones and a beautiful smile. Cedric had gotten better looking over summer and I found myself incredibly happy to see him. “Ced!”

I greeted him brightly with a tight hug. I was glad he returned it. “Hey, Mis. How was your holiday?”

“Not bad,” I grinned. “Looking forward to this. Yours?”

“Not bad. How did you do on your OWL’s? Got enough?”

“I did!” I said happily, breaking away from the group with him to talk some more. Fred and George were staring at us, I could hear George mimicking my voice to which I just glared at him. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for the win at Quidditch last year, even if Cedric had offered a rematch. “I got an O in potions,” I laughed.

“Me too,” he smiled. “I guess we’ll probably have class together then.”

Suddenly, I looked forward to the year even more. Previously I’d only had one class with Cedric, but the prospect of having a few more with him made me feel better, especially because I wasn’t sure who else I would be with for any of them, and I really didn’t want to be alone, especially for potions where if I had no one, Snape would probably pair me with some foul-faced Slytherin.

As I spoke with him, I found myself thinking back to the conversation I had with Charlie about knowing if you like someone. Yet, he just felt no different to me than Fred or George did. A best friend, yet different to the pair of them. Cedric was genuine and warm, and while he joked, he didn’t hide how he felt or what he meant behind laughter and jokes. He had a nice laugh though, and a smile that rivalled Fred’s in charm. He was calmer too, more softly spoken than the twins. He was also kinder, when the portkey pulled us through the air and I hit the ground, while the twins laughed at me, Cedric had just helped me up and brushed some of the grass from my back.

“Thanks.”

“Any time,” he replied.

I found myself wanting to give it another go with him, maybe now we were older things would work, but nothing had changed between us. I still felt the same, and there was no ‘electricity’ whenever he touched me. I didn’t go shy, I didn’t get nervous. He was just a friend. That was all he was ever going to be, and I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in that fact.

Of course, they teased me endlessly on the way to where we would pitch our tent. Cedric and his father had gone off to their own. Part of me was glad Fred and George were no longer sulky, but I couldn’t explain why Fred’s teasing specifically really seemed to annoy me. He stopped when I snapped at him and walked quicker to be with Hermione and Ginny, the former of which was giving me a strange look. I felt rather insignificant, to be honest. Cedric had gotten better looking, even the twins had grown a bit more and were losing the softness in their faces which marked their youth. I was unchanged, forever looking like I was Ginny’s age. 

Hermione, Harry, and I worked together to fix the tent up. It was mostly Hermione and I, being the only two whom had gone camping before. The size seemed to confuse Harry and Hermione; how on Earth were we all going to fit in to these two tents? I just laughed, dropping my things off into the girls’ tent, then returning to sit outside with the others.

There was a hive of activity everywhere. I saw ministry officials chasing after witches and wizards who were showing a bit too much magic, all of which came with commentary by Mr. Weasley as to who they were. Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned not long after with water and I excused myself to take a walk and have a look around when they said they’d seen Summer.

She wasn’t hard to find, not really, she was loud and telling some jokes to Cedric. I was shocked to find them together, but less so when I saw Mr. Diggory chatting with Anita. He worked at the ministry, so I assumed she was friendly with him.

“Arte!” Summer said happily, jumping me with a hug.

“Hey again,” Cedric chuckled.

“Hey, you,” I grinned at her, then gave Cedric a smile. “Bit flamboyant, isn’t it?”

Anita sighed deeply. “You think they could take a little care to go unnoticed, wouldn’t you?”

“Says Miss look at me,” Summer mumbled.

Mr. Diggory chuckled. “Ah, let them have their fun. Most muggles are staying away, and we have obliviators ready if we need them.”

Anita pressed her lips together, eyes darting around. She was nervous, maybe even paranoid but she didn’t seem like she wanted to be there, which was shocking. She’d been an excellent seeker when she was at school, it was probably how she’d met Charlie.

I spoke with both for a while until the Weasley brother showed up. He was laughing about something. “There you are.”

“Charlie!” I jumped up, smiling. “Sorry, I was catching up with Summer.”

He smiled, greeting her and introducing himself to her, Cedric, and Mr. Diggory before he turned to Anita. They were staring at each other in a strange way, like lingering affection was still there. He still loved her, didn’t he? And she cared for him, I could see it, but… if there was nothing there, what could they do? I glanced at Cedric and smiled sadly. Well, at least he and I hadn’t gotten far enough to be dating and end up hurt.

“Charlie,” she said breathlessly. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I thought… still in Romania.”

“And miss this?” He laughed. “I thought you knew me well, Nita.”

She just smiled, running her fingers through her hair. “Summer, come on, I want to go have lunch off site.”

“But-“

“No buts.”

Summer sighed and reluctantly said goodbye to us. Charlie and I turned to Cedric and his father and said bye to them, then headed back to our tent. “So that’s Cedric. Good looking kid.”

I laughed. “Isn’t he?”

“I’m sure he’s popular.”

I laughed louder. “Summer calls it his fan club, she said a few of them were really angry at me for going on a date with him last year, ended up hexing a few of them.”

“She looks a lot like her sister did when she was her age,” he commented. “If she grows up to be half as beautiful, she’s going to be the one with the fan club,” he smiled, looking as though he was watching a memory play before him. “She used to be surrounded by hoards of boys, she loved the attention. Or it seemed like he did. She told me it got tiring to have people only want to be near her because she was pretty, in her words, she knew she was good looking, she didn’t need people to tell her all the time.”

I laughed softly.

“They really hated me for dating her, it’s a shame it didn’t work out. We were good together,” he sighed. “I’m glad she’s doing well, though.”

“I think my sister has a huge crush on her,” I admitted. 

“Imagine how that would work out.”

I laughed. “It’s really good seeing you again,” I said to him.

“You too, Mis,” he grinned down at me.

We re-joined the others shortly after, just in time to catch the twins betting their entire life savings on the match; Ireland would win, but Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker, would catch the snitch. “That’s your entire savings, your mother wouldn’t want you wasting it all like that,” Mr. Weasley said weekly.

“Nonsense!” A man dressed in a rather strange black and yellow outfit replied. He seemed to be the one handling the betting. “They seem to know what they want.”

“We do,” Fred said firmly.

“Ah,” Mr. Weasley said, seeing us approach. “This is Charlie, my second eldest. And this young lady is Artemis Taylor,” he turned to the man, then to us. “This is Ludo Bagman.”

“Ahh, can I interest either of you in a bet?” He stared at us eagerly. “I’ll give you very good odds.”

“Not for me,” Charlie said, sounding a little strained.

I paused, debating copying Fred and George’s bet, but shook my head instead and went to sit with them. They had very good instincts, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were right, I mean, it was a logical answer. The Ireland team was amazing, I’d been keeping up with them, but Krum was the better seeker. Besides, I’d spent most of my savings on the dress we needed for this year and only had a little left over, and I wanted to save it for this year’s Hogsmeade trips.

“Summer is here with her sister,” I mused. “Anita really doesn’t look happy to be here though, she hates crowds.”

“Funny, considering she used to be the middle of the crowd,” Fred laughed.

“I guess being an auror makes you paranoid,” I shrugged. “Summer reckons she sees danger everywhere, though seeing how excited everyone is, I’m inclined to agree,” I laughed, leaning against him. 

It turned out we had an amazing view for the match, and both Anita and Summer were there when we arrived. Anita was sitting tight lipped with her arms and legs folded, having previously been talking with Lucius Malfoy. She didn’t seem to happy about it. 

“Is that—Anita Maythorpe!” Mr. Weasley said loudly. “I haven’t seen you in….”

“About five years, no?” She gave him a small smile, shaking his hand. She gave Charlie a grin and moved to sit and talk with Bill and him. Summer moved, happily away from Draco and his mother, to sit near Harry who was watching Anita curiously.

“God,” George muttered. “What does she eat to get so beautiful?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, feeling a little dejected. “But I need some.”

“Was she just talking to the Malfoys?” Harry half hissed.

“They’re family friends,” Summer said quietly, looking somewhat ashamed. “But she can’t stand them, it’s lucky you came along, I think she was moments from hexing him since he wouldn’t take the hint to go away. You should have seen Draco’s face when he saw, I think he drooled.”

I laughed, holding my stomach. I could just imagine it. Family friends though. That seemed so odd. I had met Summer’s parents, once, briefly after her first year. They seemed nice, not the type of people who would associate with the Malfoy’s. I guess it made sense of why Summer was always picking fights with Draco, then. 

The match itself was amazing. At some point I stopped listening to Bagman’s commentating, and instead focused on the more interesting play-by-play that Fred was giving. When he realised I was the only one listening, and that I was finding it amusing, he dropped his voice and moved closer, so I could hear it better. I had never noticed before then, just how good Fred Weasley smelled. Like peppermint, grass, and slightly like fireworks. What was even more curious was my heart going crazy, though that could be put down to the excitement of the match and the general atmosphere.

The game went just as they had predicted, and as Krum flew around with the snitch, they clambered to Bagman to collect their winnings. I noticed George smelled like Fred, but something different about it. I shook my head. There was nothing in it, just Fred had been closer to me than he’d been in a long time, and I had just happened to notice it was a nice scent. Cedric smelled good too, so did Summer, so did Charlie. 

If there was an atmosphere during the match, it was nothing to the after party. Some part of me wanted to go and join an actual party somewhere, but instead I was resigned to watching Fred and George tease Fred about his ‘crush’ on Viktor Krum. I laughed, sipping at my hot chocolate. Charlie was sat by me. We’d been discussing the match in detail; Ireland had some amazing chasers, it made me excited to play Quidditch again soon. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed it. I wondered how different things would have been had I started school a few years earlier and spent more time with Anita and Charlie. I’d probably not be as close with Fred and George as I was, I certainly wouldn’t have met Summer the way I had, and I doubted Cedric would be a thing in my life. It’s odd, sometimes, how life works.

“Okay, that’s it,” Mr. Weasley said, causing me to jump from my trance. He was at Ginny’s side, where she’d fallen asleep and spilled her hot chocolate on the table. “Time for bed, everyone.”

No one really protested, we were all rather knackered from the early start. The three of us girls went to the other tent next door, Ginny fell asleep instantly, leaving Hermione and I, who were on the two bottom bunks, to chat quietly with each other.

“Summer’s sister seems nothing like her,” she said. 

“Anita? Yeah, she’s less… laid back than Summer, though she never used to be so stern… I guess she has to be,” I yawned. “She’s a good person though, and she loves Summer more than anything. She’d do absolutely anything for her.”

“Summer never talks about her, though.”

“Her family is complicated, I guess, it’s tough for her to talk about,” I rolled onto my side, so I was facing her. She was watching me. “Summer isn’t the type to talk about tough things, she only focuses on good things and ignores things she should perhaps face head on,” I gave her a weak smile. “She seems carefree, but she isn’t, not really.”

Ginny murmured above Hermione and we were both silent for a moment, worried we’d disturbed her. “You and Fred looked cosy earlier.”

“What?”

“He was whispering into your ear or something, the entire match. Every time I looked over he was leaning into you, and you were so close to him.” I was certain I saw a smirk on her face.

I stayed silent, not sure what to reply. It had meant nothing, as in there was nothing to say about it. “He’s my best friend,” I said at length. “He was being funny, I just wanted to listen.”

“You don’t like him at all?”

Did I? I thought about it. “No.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I raised my eyebrows. “Besides, he likes Angelina and she likes him. That’s not a rabbit hole I’m willing to go down.”

“What about Charlie?”

“What about him?”

Hermione sighed deeply. “You and he have been spending a lot of time together, you can’t possibly be talking about dragons and other magical creatures all that time.”

“There’s nothing going on,” I shrugged. “We spoke a lot about his work, though, he mentioned there was a summer volunteer program h thinks I should apply for next year, though.”

“Oh, that sounds a really good idea,” she said happily. “Are you going to go for it?”

“I guess so, I have no reason not to-“ I paused, feeling a pang of sadness when I thought about Selene. She would hate me for it, but Felix was right. I couldn’t pause my life or give up on the things I wanted for her, even if she was my triplet, even if for a long time she was the only best friend I had next to Felix, we had different lives now.

Hermione said nothing else after that and I found myself grateful to fall into sleep. I’d always been the type of person who slept well apart from the night before going to Hogwarts, and that night was no exception. I was exhausted, and I was feeling somewhat emotionally overwhelmed already. Yet even as an early riser, I found it too early when shouts and screams caused me to wake up. It had only seemed like five minutes.

“What’s going on?” Hermione muttered, sitting up.

Another scream caused me to jump to my feet, finding my slippers. That didn’t sound like a scream of joy. I was still not legally allowed to do magic, but wasn’t there a rule if we were in danger? I grabbed my wand quickly. “Hermione, get Ginny up.” I was the eldest, it was my job to protect the pair of them for now.

Luckily it wasn’t long before Mr. Weasley and Bill came into the tent, heading straight for us. “Good, you’re already up. Grab coats, quick, it’s cold out.”

I didn’t think of much, Ginny was still half asleep, so I grabbed her coat for her and quickly hurried out after them and gave it to her. It was only in the fresh air I realised I’d forgotten mine, but—fire, shouts, screams—a group of hooded, black robbed people—

I knew who they were. I’d seen them in books.

“Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility!” Mr. Weasley said. “Get to the forest, stay there until we come for you!”

Ginny held tightly onto Fred’s hand, and I found myself gripping George’s as they led us through people and tents. The three of us knew exactly who they were, they were also aware that if anyone was in danger here, it was Harry, Hermione and myself.“Come on, Missy,” George murmured, squeezing my hand when I thought for a moment about doubling back for a little boy who was crying. Luckily his mother had hurriedly picked him up. “We have to get out of here.”

As he’d said it a group of people rushed between us.

I’d never really liked busy places, not like this, and I found myself in a panic. In the crowd I lost track of Fred and George, I lost track of even what direction I was supposed to go. The cowardly Gryffindor, I reminded myself, feeling my heart speed up more. Any spell I could think of to help myself was gone from my head. I was just scared, my hands shaking from fear more than cold now. All I could do was find a place to sit down, hopefully hidden from view. They wouldn’t know I was muggle born from looking at me, would they?

Vaguely, in the back of my mind, it registered that they wouldn’t care. I would seem weak to them and it would be all the excuse they’d need to pick on me if they came across me. Weak. 

I don’t know how long I sat there, the fact no one paid me attention was a good thing—I think. Hopefully it meant I wasn’t standing out obviously, yet I couldn’t also help but hope that somebody, anybody, would notice me and take me to where I was supposed to be. I’d almost given up hope of it when I heard my name.

“Oh, Artemis.”

It was a voice I knew.

A warm jacket was around my shoulders, soft hands on my arms as I was pulled up. I allowed myself to relax and feel safer. “What happened?”

I moved closer to Charlie, almost jumping when something went bang. He squeezed my arms, leading me somewhere. “I-I just lost them… one moment I-I had G-George’s hand an-and the next…” 

“You’re freezing.”

I was still shaking, and I was positive he knew it wasn’t because of the cold, yet the contrast of how warm his skin was on mine was proof enough that I was a lot colder than I’d thought. “I forgot my jacket,” I admitted. “T-too busy r-remembering Ginny’s.”

Charlie smiled at me.

“W-was anyone h-hurt?”

“No one was killed,” he said, sounding strained. “They haven’t gone yet, though. I have to go back and help- oi!” he yelled ahead.

I followed his gaze, but it was blocked when blonde hair filed my vision. Summer’s unique scent of blueberries filled my nose and I felt my eyes sting and tear up. I was terrified. What a pathetic idiot I was. “Jeeze, Artemis.”

“I’m so sorry,” George mumbled, his hands finding me next as Charlie reluctantly let me go, telling him to look after me and keep me here and warm and to not let me sleep until they were back. “I tried looking for you, but-“

“I-It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, we shouldn’t have been so careless,” Fred said firmly.

“Anita left me here with them after she got me out,” Summer said, sitting me down next to Ginny at the base of a tree. “I think she was going to look for you too, but she seemed determined to stop them.”

“Well it’s her job, isn’t it?” George murmured, kneeling in front of me and rubbing my hands with his to warm them up. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I whispered. “Just my pride.”

“Come off it,” he mumbled, giving me a small smile. “We’ve gone over it before; how brave you are. This isn’t exactly-“

“This is the exact type of situation where I shouldn’t just… shut down,” I muttered.

“Hey,” Summer frowned, her hand on my shoulder. Fred was stood over us all, his expression dark and unreadable. “You just panicked. You probably had a panic attack, it happens.”

It didn’t reassure me, but thankfully they didn’t say much else. Fred tried to lighten the mood with a few jokes, but eventually went silent, sitting down on the other side of Ginny. I don’t know how long we waited, but I was happy to see Charlie and Bill approaching us. Anita was with them too, a cut on her lip and looking rather like hell hath no fury.

“Anita?” Summer whispered. “What happened?”

“We’re going home,” she said firmly. “Now.”

“But-“

“Now, Summer,” Anita said, grabbing her hand. “And you’re staying with me for the rest of the holidays,” she added, dragging her away. There was a protest from Summer, but it was broken off by the loud crack of them disapparating away.

“How are you doing?” Charlie asked, kneeling beside George in front of me.

“I’m fine,” I smiled weakly at him.

“She’s just a bit shaken, I think,” George whispered to him.

I tried not to be insulted at how they were talking about me, but I reminded myself that they were just concerned, and my reaction was probably fuelled by lack of sleep and emotions on high. For the most part I just tuned everyone out and let Charlie pull me up and lead me back. George stuck close to my other side while Fred held Ginny’s hand ahead of us. Bill was in front. I wondered were the others were, but it all went from my mind when we got back to the tent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already there with Percy and Mr. Weasley. I heard more concern for me, but all I wanted to do was sleep, yet I doubted I was going to get any. I didn’t know if I could sleep along, but who could I ask? Fred and George would be in another tent, and I didn’t want to seem like even more of a baby in front of anyone if it was even allowed. I was pathetic. I think I lay awake most of the night, sometimes drifting off. At some point I felt someone slide into bed with me, the only indication that I had of who it was, was red hair and Ginny murmuring. I was suddenly grateful for her being there, and then a few moments later, Hermione joined us. 

None of us said it out loud, but all of us were scared. It didn’t matter that there were four wizards next door who could help us, no rational or logical thought mattered at all. We were just teenage girls, caught up in something we shouldn’t have been caught up in. If there was anything I was happy for, though, it was that Selene and Felix weren’t messed up in this too. I wanted to be more awake, to discuss what had happened, but as I eventually fell asleep, I was grateful for it. Part of me hoped for a long sleep, but another part hoped deeply I would be woken early and we would return to the Burrow as soon as possible. I wanted to be far away from there as possible.


	11. Curses

We left early the morning after much to my relief, and as soon as we were back at the Burrow I felt myself calm right down. I wanted to say that Charlie and George keeping a close eye on me didn’t annoy me, but it did. I’d ended up trying to avoid them. I was tired of them looking at me as though I was about to have another breakdown over it all. I was exhausted, though, so after lunch I decided to take a small nap in the sunshine in the garden. Summer had written to me late that night, Anita had ‘kidnapped her’, which was her term for not letting her even go home to see her parents, and what had shocked her most was her mother had agreed with Anita. She heard nothing from her father on the issue, and her letter was more than a little annoyed that Anita seemed smug about it, though she was busy going into work more than before.

Despite the exhaustion, I didn’t fall asleep the night before the trip to London to get the train. I snuck from Ginny’s room and down to the twins, happy they were both still awake and let myself in. Neither of them said anything, I assumed after last year they had expected it. We didn’t do much, just talked in hushed voices. I dozed off at some point on George’s shoulder, it was still dark when I woke up and returned to Ginny’s room. 

The morning as absolute chaos, though. I’d gotten almost no sleep, so I had packed as quietly as I could and thankfully it let me have a relaxed morning. I had just gone down to the kitchen in time to see Mrs. Weasley putting some toast in the fire and raised an eyebrow until I saw the face of Mr. Diggory. Arthur was then rushing into the kitchen and bidding her farewell, apparently being called into work early.

“All packed?” Charlie grinned at me.

“Yep,” I yawned, rubbing my eyes. “When are you going back to Romania?”

“Tomorrow, we have a lot to prepare,” he gave me a sly grin and I rolled my eyes. He’d been trying to get me to ask what was going on this year at Hogwarts all summer. Fred found it annoying I refused to ask, he seemed to think Charlie would tell me if I asked. “Thought any more about coming to study next summer?”

I nodded, helping myself to some toast. “I think I’ll go for it, it’s a good opportunity, no?” I shrugged. I wanted to make some jokes about how dragons were preferable to another summer of death eaters, but the joke wouldn’t leave my throat, so instead I sat there with what probably looked like an expression McGonagall often had.

“You’ll be seeing me sooner than that, though,” he said, giving me another sly grin. 

“I’m not going to ask what’s going on,” I said simply.

“Not even a little curious?”

“Yes,” I admitted, fidgeting in my seat. I hated surprises really, well… I liked them, but I hated the waiting. Honestly, it was killing me not asking him, but if there was one personality trait I took pride in, it was my stubbornness, or ask I liked to call it, my hardiness, my resilience. I didn’t want to prove Fred right that Charlie would tell me if I asked, I was sure it would bring another round of teasing me about ‘my dragon prince’. 

The twins themselves perked up a lot when we were on the train. There’d been another argument when their mum had found some even more toffees, and there were some issues with the taxi driver, he had eyed Hedwig, Apollo, and Ron’s new owl, Pig, with some apprehension too. But when we were with Lee and Angelina, they both broke into loud topics of all these new ideas they had, and how far along they were with them. Lee didn’t seem surprised, likely George already told him, but what did surprise me, was Angelina seemed to know a lot too. George also looked surprise, but Fred just looked proud of himself, puffing his chest out. Even I hadn’t known some of these plans.

Some part of me had always known at some point they’d realise I didn’t belong in the same world as them, and that at some point they were going to realise it, but despite knowing it deep down, it hurt a lot more than I thought it would. They were my best friends but sitting in the carriage being a part of none of the conversations, it dawned on me that perhaps I was not their best friend. At some point I excused myself, only George and Lee looked up, but I’d closed the door behind me before they could speak. I wasn’t sure where I was going, I debated finding Cedric, but as I passed his carriage he was surrounded by his Hufflepuff friends. Instead I slunk into the next carriage I found with anyone I knew, glad it was Summer and Neville and Ginny, and a Ravenclaw girl from Ginny’s year whom I’d heard about. Luna Lovegood, a person who I never saw with anyone else, she was… odd, according to what I’d heard. Her year had nicknamed her Loony Lovegood, which I thought was rather rude, yet I had to admit she did seem rather bizarre. She gave me only one look before returning to her magazine and said nothing. No one else paid her any attention.

“I thought you’d be with Fred and George,” Summer said when I sat next to Ginny.

“Fred’s flirting with Angelina,” I said. “And George and Lee seemed to be talking about something private, so I thought I’d give them space.”

Summer stared at me. “You’re lying.”

“Summer, please, not right no.”

I knew she would have known I was lying, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to sulk, I wanted to drown in my self-pity for a bit. Thankfully she did drop it and the four of us spoke for a while until the door opened. It surprised me to find George there, he looked… guilty. “Missy,” he said, using the nickname Charlie had picked up from my mum. “Can I talk to you?”

“See you guys later,” I smiled at Summer, saying goodbye to the others and even Luna who continued to ignore me, and hurried out. “What’s up, Georgie?”

“I feel awful, I thought Fred would have told you everything,” he said. “I didn’t know he’d told Angelina and not you.”

I shrugged. “He likes her, it’s not a big deal-“

“Yes, it is,” he frowned, staring at me seriously. “It upset you.”

“No, it-“

“Yes, it did.”

I shifted awkwardly, dropping my gaze. George knew me well, too well, almost. It made me nervous, like he could see everything I felt just by looking at me. I found myself trying to guard my thoughts in case he was skilled at Occlumency and just didn’t know it, though I stopped when I reminded myself that even if he was, there was no way I could stop him. I doubted he was, he may have been brilliant, but if he had that skill he would have capitalised on it long ago. “You don’t have to tell me everything in your life.”

“You’re my best friend, Missy, Lee too. I just… you and Fred have always been closer, I assumed he would say something,” he sighed.

I shrugged again. “Fred and I have been fighting a lot over summer.”

“I noticed.”

I frowned.

“Any reason for that?”

“No idea,” I said painfully. “He just seems ready to criticize me over everything… and I can’t explain why it makes me snap, but it does.”

He stared at me for a few more moments, before he linked his arm with mine. “Tell ya what, you can help me write this letter to Ludo Bagman.”

“Why are you writing to him?” I asked curiously. He stopped outside of the carriage, looking around for a moment. It was a secret, and the fact he wasn’t going into the carriage meant either Lee or Angelina, or perhaps both, didn’t know it. I felt thankful to him.

“You remember the bet at the world cup? He paid up, but he gave us Leprechaun gold, so it disappears after a few hours,” he frowned. “We reckon it was just a genuine mistake, if we write to him he’ll correct it.”

I had a sinking idea that perhaps he had known, and I could tell by George’s face he was a little sceptical himself, but he wanted to think the best of one of his father’s friends. “Thank you, for telling me.”

At the feast I found myself between George and Lee for once, since Fred was busy talking with Angelina and didn’t seem too interested in talking to anyone else. Neville sat opposite me, and Hermione and Ginny either side of him. “I don’t see any new teacher,” George murmured. “Think they couldn’t get anyone?”

“Come off it, of course Dumbledore found someone,” I frowned, squinting around. “Maybe he or she is running late?”

No one arrived as we ate and honestly, I just put it out of my mind. It wasn’t my duty to worry about the appointment of teachers and Angelina’s constant giggling at Fred’s jokes put me in a sour mood. I didn’t know why, but every time I heard her laugh I just shoved food into my mouth.

“Good sausages,” Lee murmured.

I just grunted, stabbing one with a fork.

“What’s with you?” Hermione hissed across the table.

“Just tired,” I lied. “I haven’t slept since the night before the world cup.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. Perhaps it was the truth, maybe that was why I was so grumpy and annoyed by everything. In fact, it seemed so logical that by the time our plates were clean, and the food had vanished, I had entirely convinced myself that was the reason for it.

As we finished eating, Dumbledore stood up to greet us. I could hear people holding their breaths; a lot of people knew something was about to happen this year, but there were just as many people who were looking confused. It was then the enchanted ceiling cracked with thunder and lit up with lightning, just as the door opened. The gasps and screams from the surprise were cut off as a man stalked in, limping quite drastically.

“Blimey,” Ron hissed. “Isn’t that Mad-eye Moody?”

“Alastor Moody?” Hermione asked quietly. “The Auror?”

I took him in, watching as his magical eye scoured the hall. There was something about this man that was just a bit dangerous, you could tell he’d seen some things, and it wasn’t just the paranoid way he kept looking around. It reminded me mildly of Anita’s recent behaviour.

“Half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him,” Ron murmured. “’Course he’s supposed to be entirely mad these days.”

“What do you think he’s drinking?” Harry asked quietly as Moody sat down at the teachers table.

“No clue,” I murmured. “Don’t think it’s pumpkin juice.” George chuckled beside me and I gave him a grin.

“I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our new Defence Against the Dark Art’s teacher, Professor Moody,” Dumbledore said loudly. Only a few people clapped, it was mostly fractured and broke off quickly. He didn’t seem too bothered by it though. “And now for our start of term announcements.” And instantly, the tense excitement was back. “Mister Filch would like me to remind you all the Forbidden forest is off-bounds to all students, and the list of banned objects can be viewed on the front of his door for all those who wish to see it.” I snorted; who wanted to see it? “Now, there will be no inter-house Quidditch tournament this year-“

“What?!”

“You’re joking?!” Fred and George yelled together.

No Quidditch? My heart fell.

Dumbledore, however, just chuckled. “I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, however I did hear a very good one over Summer-“ he broke off when McGonagall cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look. He looked a little disappointed and I had to stop myself from laughing. I’d always wondered what it would be like to be taught by Dumbledore, he always seemed absolutely barmy and yet countered entirely by brilliance. His mind must have been a spectacular place. “However, in its place Hogwarts will play host to the Tri-Wizard tournament.” Excited whispers broke out. What on earth was that? “We will welcome delegations from other schools at the end of October, and on Halloween the three champions, one from each school, will be picked by an impartial judge, now,” he said, pausing to make sure he had everyone’s attention, and he did; everyone wanted to know how to participate. “Due to the nature of the tasks involved, only those who will be of age, that is seventeen and older by October 31 st will be able to submit themselves-“

“That’s rubbish!”

Fred wasn’t the only one who thought so, a lot of people started yelling and complaining. I had to admit, despite knowing relatively nothing about what it was, I felt disappointed about being a few months too young to even try. Maybe I could redeem myself for being so pathetic at the world cup, maybe I would have been able to prove myself as a true Gryffindor for once.

“Quiet!” At Dumbledore’s command, everyone did indeed fall silent, though there were a lot of unhappy glares in his direction. “More details will be explained closer to the date, for now off to bed! I’m sure you all wish to be bright and awake for classes tomorrow.”

Fred and George were whispering excitedly all the way up to the common room. They wanted to try something to fool the judge, if they could convince him or her they were of age, they could get in. Ron thought it sounded interesting and I debated showing an interest too. Harry didn’t seem too interested, and Hermione just expressed her dislike for their idea, and her lack of faith in their ability to fool the judge. I almost thought an argument would break out at her disapproving stare. “Just let them get on with it, Hermione,” I mumbled. “I’ve learned by now you can’t reason with them.”

“Oh, but it’s so dangerous, they will get themselves killed.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so, Hermione, I think the pair of them could charm death out of taking their lives.”

“This isn’t a joking situation, Artemis,” she said severely. “Don’t tell me you want to try and get in too?!”

I shrugged. “Why not? It could only happen once; wouldn’t it be terribly exciting?”

She gave me a disbelieving look and just stalked off to her dorm. Fred was busy, again, talking with Angelina so I gave George and Lee a good night and hurried upstairs quickly. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and I really did feel so much better for it.

By the time morning arrived, I felt tons better and more like my old self. I was dressed and down to breakfast before most of the other Gryffindors and spent some of the time talking to Dean and Seamus from Harry’s year. “Ah, Miss. Taylor,” McGonagall said, handing me my timetable. “I was very pleased with your OWL results.”

“Thank you!” I said happily, grinning up at her. She had a tight-lipped smile on her face.

“Hagrid will talk to you about this year after your first care of magical creature’s class,” she nodded, putting her hand on my shoulder before hurrying down the table. 

It was odd, seeing such an empty timetable. I knew the free periods would be insanely busy, full of work in preparation for our NEWTs, but it was nice to see. However—“Double potions, first thing today,” I said grimly. George laughed as he sat beside me, his own timetable in his hand. “What?”

“I have no classes until we have Moody later. Charms first thing tomorrow.”

I nodded, comparing our schedules. We had Charms, Defence, and Transfiguration together, but almost nothing else. He was still taking Divination but had dropped almost everything else. Fred’s schedule would look the same too. “Well,” I said, grabbing my bag and standing up when I saw Cedric approach. “I’ll see you later, then?” 

He looked over at Cedric and raised an eyebrow but just said goodbye. I felt his eyes linger on us as I met Cedric half way. “Double potions?” he asked.

“Yep!” I said happily. I liked potions, and I had to admit it was going to be nice not to be disturbed by the twins an entire class.

“No one else I know is taking it,” he laughed.

“I think Lee Jordan is,” I motioned back to him where he was talking with George. 

Snape was, surprisingly, seemingly in a good mood. He was better with the NEWT students, maybe because we were actually competent, or maybe because we listened to him. When Cedric and I managed to work between us to brew a somewhat perfect draught of living death, he’d simply said nothing and walked off. It was the best double potions I’d ever had.

“I’ve never seen him in such a good mood.”

I laughed. “What other classes do we have together?”

“Herbology,” he said quickly as we compared our timetables. “Oh, and we’re together for Transfiguration.”

“Brilliant!” I smiled happily. “I guess I’ll see you later then, I have Moody next.”

Fred and Angelina were sat with each other at the back of the room when Lee and I arrived. Honestly, I hoped they weren’t going to be one of ‘those’ couples who were joined at the hip. Lee sat next to George, and I took the seat on the other side of the aisle to George. “How was Snape?”

“In a very good mood,” Lee said. “I think he almost cracked a smile, it was terrifying.”

I laughed.

Everyone was excitedly talking about their first classes when Moody arrived, and then silence. No one knew what kind of teacher he was going to be, but it was obvious there was going to be no messing around. “Professor Moody,” he said, writing his name on the blackboard. “There will be no troublemaking in this class,” he said, magical eye lingering on George, and then on Fred. I snickered, and he moved to look at me, then back at the class. “You are NEWT students now, Professor Lupin has left notes for me about you all, now,” he rolled up his sleeves. “The ministry would not have me show you this magic until next year, but I say that’s rubbish. You’re old enough to know, and as I always say,” he threw his chalk suddenly, aiming it at Fred who had been whispering to Angelina. “CONSTANT VIGILENCE!”

George looked so ready to laugh that I had to look away so that I wouldn’t laugh. Moody was going to be an interesting teacher, for sure. Or, so I had thought. Defence was a serious subject, but it had always been somewhat light-hearted. Lupin’s lessons had been fun, Lockhart’s were useless, and Quirrell had been too scared of almost everything. My other teachers had been okay, but Moody had seen things. He knew things. But I could tell, instantly, at his serious expression, that the time for light-heartedness was gone.

“The unforgiveable curses.”

And he was starting us on some serious magic. The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

“How many are there?”

No one wanted to raise their hands.

“Weasley?”

Both twins looked at each other and Moody sighed. “Either of you.”

“Three,” Fred said lowly.

“And so, named because-?” He looked at George.

“Well, you use one and you’ll to go Azkaban instantly, no?”

Moody nodded. “Name a curse,” he said, looking towards a Ravenclaw student I hadn’t met before. It only dawned on me, as he removed a spider from one of his jars, that he’d said show. He wasn’t going to just tell us about the magic, but he was going to show us. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that; on one hand, if we ever needed to defend ourselves against them, it would be good to see them, but….

“Imperio.”

“Yes, the Imperius curse,” Moody said loudly. “Total control, many dark witches and wizards have said they only did you-know-who’s bidding under control of the Imperius curse.”

I felt disgusted watching the spider do tricks. No one in the room laughed. I could imagine if I was younger, I would have, but the idea of total control—the things you could get someone to do. Kill their families, betray their friends, kill themselves—

“Yes, you all seem to understand the seriousness,” he nodded. 

I still didn’t see the point-

“Miss. Taylor?”

My head snapped up to stare at him. “Sir?”

“You are not interested?”

“Uh,” I felt eyes on me and I cleared my throat. “Forgive me, professor, but Voldemort is gone-“ I sighed, shaking my head when most of the room visibly flinched. “I know he still has supporters, but unless we become aurors, what are the chances we are ever going to come against these curses?”

“Not afraid to say the name, eh? You’re either brave, or stupid.”

“It’s just a name of a wizard who is no threat to us, sir. I do not see the point.”

He stared at me curiously, then turned to the rest of the class. “CONSTANT VIGILENCE!” I jumped, and so did many others. “Maybe you-know-who is not a threat, but that doesn’t mean there won’t ever be another dark witch or wizard to rival him! You never know! Second curse, Miss. Taylor.”

I frowned, folding my hands in my lap. It wasn’t that I didn’t approve of him showing us, in fact despite the gravity of the magic, it was insanely interesting. “The Cruciatus curse.”

“Also known as the torture curse,” Moody said, putting the spider down and pointing his wand at it. None of us needed a warning for what he was about to do, but I don’t think any of us had been truly ready. “Crucio!”

The sound of the spider being tortured was awful. I took it back, it wasn’t as interesting as it first seemed; it was just barbaric. To think hoards of Voldemort’s followers had used this very spell against people in the past, some to the point of insanity. I gulped, clenching my fists tightly, suddenly wishing I had taken the spot next to George.

“Final curse, Mister Jordan?”

“The killing curse,” he said quietly.

I didn’t look when he cast it, I didn’t listen at all to what he said. I saw a flash of green in the room, but that was it. And, when he dismissed us, I was one of the first out. Next lesson he was going to be putting the Imperius curse on s and having us fight it—what a joke. Was he really allowed to do that? I didn’t think that he would do anything unsafe, Dumbledore wouldn’t let him teach here if he was a threat to us, and the headmaster always knew everything going on in the school, so he must have known his lesson plans.

“You okay there, Missy?” George said, coming out soon after me. “You look a bit pale.”

“Just a heavy lesson,” I said, not looking him in the eye.

“He’s absolutely mad, isn’t he?”

“Just a bit,” I said, frowning. “A bit paranoid, too.”

He chuckled, eyeing up his brother as he joined us. “Angelina has arithmancy next,” he said, scrunching his face up.

“Nice of you to join us, lover boy,” George said, elbowing him in the side. “Did you actually ask her out yet? Go to Hogsmeade?”

“Not yet.”

I shifted. “I have an essay for Snape I want to start,” I frowned, thinking. He’d set us three rolls of parchment. Three! On the first day! Moody had thankfully not given us any, but our next lesson in a few days would have us facing the Imperius curse, and he’d told us to mentally prepare for it. I wasn’t looking forward to it, especially when his gaze on me suggested I’d be the first he’d try it on. “At least I have Hagrid all morning tomorrow,” I said happily. “And then Herbology in the afternoon.”

“We have divination tomorrow,” Fred said. “And Herbology.”

They were taking that? I raised an eyebrow.

“McGonagall said our timetables were too free,” George explained, snorting. “Didn’t like the idea of us having too much free time.”

I laughed. “I can’t imagine why.” Still, they had more time than any of us. They spoke at length about more ideas they had, and how they’d been working all morning to try out things they hadn’t been able to do at home. They were really putting their all into it, more than ever. They didn’t care about their NEWTS, they weren’t going to study; these last two years were for fine-tuning everything and ‘market research’. I had to give it to them, they had a good plan. They’d wanted the money off Bagman to put towards shop premises, which was why they were so desperate for the money.

The day went faster while I was with them. I didn’t mind that I only managed to do one roll of Snape’s essay by dinner, I had missed both so much. I’d been with George a lot while Fred was with Angelina, but without Fred it just felt so… incomplete. George was fun, I loved him to pieces, but it just wasn’t the same if it was him alone.

“Did you tell your family about what happened at the world cup?”

I shook my head, poking at my apple pie. “They don’t need to know that kind of stuff.”

“Have you actually spoken to anyone?” George frowned. “You got really freaked out.”

“Of course, I did,” I snapped, though flinched myself. “I-I’m sorry… I just hate how I reacted, I got so panicked when I lost you both and then I got so scared… who knows what would have happened if Charlie hadn’t found me.”

“You’d have fought them odd and won,” he said confidently.

I snorted. “Against all those adults who know all those things we don’t? You saw what Moody did earlier, what hope do any of us have against it? Cowards, hiding behind those masks,” I spat, suddenly feeling irrationally angry. “I hope Anita really finds out who they were.”

“Dad reckons they know who some of them were, but there’s not enough proof,” Fred said, lowering his voice. “Same reason they didn’t go to Azkaban after you-know-who’s downfall—speaking of which, you need to stop saying his name.”

“Why? It’s just a name, Fred,” I shrugged.

“You might not understand, since you’re muggle born-“

“I’m pretty sure I understand it,” I said quickly, narrowing my eyes at him. George mumbled under his breath something about ‘please don’t fight now’, but I entirely ignored him. “I may not be a pureblood or even a half blood, and thankfully my family was never messed up in the war, but I understand that fear. It’s hard not to notice the way people flinch whenyou say the name, but he’s gone.”

Fred nodded his head. “But is he? Look what happened in Harry’s first year, in his second year….”

“A husk of what he used to be,” I said simply. “You think if he came back saying his name is going to change anything? I don’t care if people think it’s jinxed, it only makes people scared because people don’t use it! If he was to manifest right here, right now, do you think it makes any difference to him whether you use a name? You’re probably still going to die, as would I.”

“She’s got a point, mate,” George offered. “But, Missy, you really must understand, people were terrified. His name really is a jinx. To say his name, you either need to be bloody brave or strong.”

“Or just crazy,” Fred added.

“Well, I am neither of those three,” I sniffed, swinging my legs over the bench. “I’m just trying to think realistically here.”

I left them to finish their dinner, so I could try and get some more of my essay done. I had to admit, without Quidditch this year, there was suddenly a lot freer time, yet it was a lot more boring. I guessed with the tournament’s beginning things would pick up. I wondered what kind of challenges they would face; hadn’t Charlie mentioned he’d be seeing us sooner than we thought? Did one of the challenges have something to do with him? Or with Dragons? I shivered. They wouldn’t expect students to fight a dragon, would they? I’d seen the burn marks Charlie had, I’d seen that dragonup close… that was just insane. I groaned, suddenly thankful for the age restriction. Harry had such a bad habit of getting mixed up into danger, and a tournament like that seemed the most perfect place for the danger to find him. Luckily, he wasn’t seventeen, and so he would be safe from it all. Yet, the twin’s idea of trying to fool the judge started to appeal to me a lot more. I would only be two months too young, so having to convince them I was older didn’t seem so hard, but then again, I did look like I was Ginny’s age. 

Eventually, I decided I wasn’t going to get my essay finished and so I went to bed early. I wanted to put the day out of my mind and focus on the excitement of my first NEWT level Care of Magical Creatures class the following morning, and even more so since Hagrid was going to tell me what I would be doing with him when I had time. Last year it had been Salamanders with scale rot, and spending time with Buckbeak while he was chained up. Maybe this year I’d help him with the general upkeep, maybe we’d even go into the forest. I loved it in there. In my third year, Fred and George had dared me to go into there late one night when we’d snuck out. I’d done it, of course, mostly wanting to impress them, but they’d gotten scared themselves when I didn’t return quickly and had rushed to Hagrid to tell them what they’d done, and they were worried some Centaurs had carted me off. Hagrid found me not long after, just simply watching some Unicorns sleeping. I’d gotten so lost watching their beauty that I’d entirely forgotten to go back to the twins. Hagrid had found it funny, at least after he lectured us about being there so late at night, it was dangerous to go in there at the best of times, even for him. Third year seemed so much simpler than this, so much had changed for the better since then, but I couldn’t help but wonder whether Fred and I were just drifting apart. It made no sense why I would drift from him and not George, but perhaps it was natural after this time, especially if he would date Angelina. 

I shifted in my bed feeling uncomfortable. Maybe George and Fred would drift apart too, though it seemed an impossible feat. I couldn’t imagine that ever being the case, they would never be like Selene and me. At some point my mind quietened enough to be able to drift off to sleep, but I didn’t sleep well, waking numerous times during the night. I wanted to go down to the boy’s dorm, even if all I did was talk to George for a bit, but I couldn’t keep doing that. I had to handle it myself. If I had a list of top ten nights, that one would never make the list.


	12. Unicorns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I missed a few typos and corrected a few wrongly ._. it's like one AM, I should just wait to post it but ahh haha. If you made it this far in then thank you for reading this ;u; I'm not an amazing writer, but it always makes me happy to think someone enjoys my imagination somewhat :3

The first few weeks of term went by so quick, it was the middle of October before I finally had time to think. I was glad for no Quidditch, and secretly I thought Angelina felt the same, as did Cedric. We were all swamped with homework that she and I grew envious of Fred and George who had the least amount of work and didn’t bother to put any effort into it anyway. They were busy, of course, but it was a self-inflicted busy. I spent a lot of my free time helping Hagrid, and I was glad for it; Fred and Angelina hadn’t confessed to each other yet, but, boy, they were sickening to be around. Even George had asked Fred to cool it just a bit, whether it fell on deaf ears or not, I had no idea, I simply tried to avoid it.

Hagrid didn’t really have me doing much, but he’d promised me something ‘really exciting’ soon. I was looking forward to it, even more than any of the creatures he had for the fourth years, which Harry, Ron, and Hermione complained about endlessly. He didn’t seem to be a very popular teacher, that was sure.

Moody’s classes ended up tiring me out, so after I had lessons with him, I was often too tired to do much else afterwards. Just as he’d promised, he was putting the imperius curse on us and seeing if we could resist it, and as I’d thought, I’d been the first one he’d picked on. He’d seemed almost delighted at doing it to me, but if I was any Gryffindor quality, it was the stubbornness. It may have been silly, but I took pride in being able to resist the curse better than anyone in the class. He seemed to take a glee in it, too, trying harder to control me and when I resisted him more, well… if he wasn’t insanely mad I would have thought he was taking some sadistic glee from it.

“I don’t know how you can even try and stop him, Arte,” George murmured, sitting beside me at breakfast one Saturday. I was still tired from the previous afternoons Defence class. “It’s really impressive, you get this look in your eyes, it’s quite terrifying. Remind me never to cross you.”

I gave him a weak smile. “I just don’t want someone telling me what to do.” He laughed at me and I shook my head. “Not like that, I mean, but when you realise just the things they could get you to do under that curse… it makes me sick,” I looked away. “Even if it’s ‘safe’ in Moody’s class and he’s not going to have me murder you and Fred….”

“Is that what you’re scared of?” he asked, his voice soft and light. “Art-“

“It’s fine, George,” I smiled at him. “You’re my best friend, I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you. Would you even try and stop me?”

“Yes.”

“Would you kill me?”

“Artemis, it’s not going to come to that—we could stop you other ways.”

“See, that’s why if it was a dangerous situation, I’d have to resist.”

He stared at me. “What if it was us? And we had to kill you?”

I just stuck my tongue in my cheek. I would try and fight them off, but I knew very well, just as well as he did, that I would no sooner kill them than they would me. It was not a great atmosphere when Fred sat down with Angelina, and not wanting to fight with him again (something which had been happening more and more frequently) I stood up and excused myself. I had to excuse of hanging out with Summer anyway, since I hadn’t seen her much recently. 

I met her at the gates with Cedric. They were laughing about something and the sound of their laughter made my heart feel considerably lighter. She was a sight for sore eyes, as was Cedric, and I greeted her with a tighter hug than I had probably given to her before.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

She gave me a sceptical look and just linked her arm with me. The three of us headed down to Hogsmeade together. “What were the pair of you laughing about?” I asked, looking towards Cedric.

“Ced here, has eyes for a certain Ravenclaw seeker,” she grinned. “It’s quite adorable.”

“Cho?”

“Keep your voice down,” he said quickly, looking around. 

He sure had a thing for Quidditch players. I laughed. It was more confirmation that I didn’t like him, it didn’t bother me at all. I briefly thought of Angelina and Fred to my confusion but shook it out; I wanted to have a good day without feeling annoyed. “How long have you liked her?”

“I saw her on the train,” he admitted. “And something just… I just wanted to talk to her,” he shrugged.

“And you haven’t asked her out yet?”

“I haven’t really had a chance,” he said. “I’m hoping I’ll see her today,” he added, looking around. “Where are Fred and George?”

I snorted. “They have their own things to do, but I’m sure George and Fred will argue because Fred will drag Angelina along into their private affairs.”

Summer stared at me. “But they’d let you in on it, no? So why not her?”

“It’s… more the less people know about this, the better.” I shrugged. “Lee knows. Honestly, I’m shocked Fred hasn’t told Angelina, but I guess George forbade him from it, he already blabbed too much to her,” I rubbed my neck. 

“So, you didn’t want to be near them because of them fighting, even though you can stop them arguing?”

“What is this, Summer, the Spanish Inquisition?” I snapped. “I just don’t want to be near that.”

She said nothing else, but she did stare at me strangely as we headed to the three broomsticks. Cedric excused himself as we entered, seeing Cho with some of her friends in the corner. I just laughed, grinning as he sat next to her. She almost dropped her drink, obviously nervous. “Harry will he heart broken,” Summer said.

“Yeah, he has a huge crush on her,” I smiled. “He’ll get over it, I guess. They’re still young.”

“And you?”

“Me?” I raised my eyebrows. “I thought we discussed this, I don’t like Cedric like that. It doesn’t bother me at all, I’m happy for him.”

She let out a long sigh and put her butterbeer down. “I wasn’t talking about Cedric, Mis,” she said quietly but firmly. “I meant Fred.”

“What about him?”

“Angelina and Fred, it bothers you.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I said quickly. It did bother me, I didn’t like who Fred was around her, I didn’t like that he put others second to her, even his own brother. I didn’t like how he was loud and always showed off around her, I didn’t like that he always told her things that had nothing to do with her, and I most certainly hated when he teased me around her to make himself seem cooler.

“Yes, it does, please stop denying it,” She said, sounding quite exasperated. “Hermione and I can both tell.”

“Oh, and you and Hermione have discussed me at length, have you?”

“Yes, actually,” she sniffed. “And the fact that you like Fred but won’t admit it.”

I didn’t reply, I wasn’t entirely sure how to.Me? Like Fred? I snorted. “Piss off do I like him. That’s ridiculous.” There was no way I did; he made me angry, the only words we said to each other recently were made of anger and frustration, if he wasn’t teasing me he was snapping at me. While it was true I could stop Fred and George arguing, George was the only one who could stop Fred and me. It was tiresome to be around that all the time. I hated arguing with him, I just wanted to go back to the previous year, when everything had been so much simpler, no arguing, just getting into trouble.

“You do,” She insisted. “Even if you don’t realise it, at some point you’re going to and if you don’t realise it now and tell him, you’re going to miss your chance.”

“Even if I did, which I don’t,” I added, seeing her look. “He doesn’t like me, I don’t know if you’ve seen him around Angelina, but he doesn’t see anyone else.”

“You don’t like being around them.”

“Have you seen him around her?” I asked again. “He acts like a right asshole, especially to me.”

“And have you thought about why that is?” She asked.

“Because he wants to make himself seem big and impressive to her.”

Summer let out a sigh. “Because he wants to convince her, and himself, that he has no feelings for you. The only way he knows to make that clear is by picking on you.”

Was she being serious? I snorted, putting my butterbeer down and laughing. “You’ve lost it, Summer, officially lost it. Fred and I like each other? That’s like asking Harry and Snape to date-“

“What?”

I looked up, seeing Harry.

Summer and I glanced at each other, before she let out a high-pitched giggle. “Sorry, Harry, I just couldn’t think of a more unlikely paring than you and Snape,” I said, watching as Ron all but doubled over in laughter. Hermione seemed to be trying not to laugh too. 

“What is it with you and discussing me with people, first Oliver, now Snape,” he mumbled, sitting down next to Summer. “Oh, Neville was looking for you.”

“Me?” I frowned.

“Yeah, he said he had a message from Hagrid or something.”

I quickly downed my butterbeer and said goodbye. A message from Hagrid on a Saturday? I found Neville outside, looking very red cheeked and panting heavily as he hurried to me. I told him, before he could speak, that I was off to Hagrid’s instantly and he smiled gratefully. Even more when I told him Summer was inside and she could do with company now I was leaving her. It was ridiculous, Summer even thinking I liked Fred. Really.

“Hagrid!?” I asked, knocking on his door as I made it up the hill. I was panting and entirely out of breath since I’d mostly run, but it had done me good, it had taken my mind off the previous conversation until all I’d been able to think about was Harry’s face when I’d mentioned him and Snape.

“Artemis!” He said happily, throwing open his door. “Good, yer got my message to come.”

Hagrid’s promise that something ‘exciting’ was going to happen held up, and when I found myself alone in the forest with only Fang at my side, I was rather excited. One of the Unicorns was pregnant and had gone missing from the herd, so he wanted my help in trying to find it, then I was going to help him look after her and check her over. Apparently, this one had been sick in the past and had always had complications with her foals, so it was important to separate her from the others and keep a close eye on her. 

He was searching for her too in the opposite direction, and though I had insisted nothing in the forest scared me enough that I needed Fang, he had insisted I bring him with me. Not that he was useful; he was terrified of everything. Even more so when I came across a tree with spears in it. “Centaurs,” I murmured, pausing. If I was about to enter their territory it would be dangerous, yet Fang had gotten the Unicorn’s scent.

I waited for a few minutes, waiting to see if any Centaur would appear to tell me to turn around, but none did, so hesitantly, I stepped past the tree and followed Fang. It didn’t take long before the sound of hooves came to my attention, and Fang ran off like the damn chicken he was. Centaurs were rather terrifying creatures, but they were intelligent, and though I had trespassed, I hoped I could talk with them at least. So, when they surrounded me, I just raised my hands up, showing them, I meant no harm.

“You should not be here.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I saw the border to your territory, and I waited, but, please, it’s urgent.” When they didn’t speak, I carried on, aware of the spears pointing at me. “There’s a pregnant Unicorn that wandered off from the others, Fang caught the scent this direction. I really have to get her back to Hagrid as soon as possible.”

“We know the beast you speak of,” the one I assumed was the leader said, staring down at me. He was impressive. “Nature would take its course, she should not have left the group. Without intervention, she and the youngling would die.”

“But we can intervene and save both,” I said quickly. “We have that power.”

“Natures course is best.”

“And I agree,” I said quickly. “In most cases, but sometimes, we should help those that need it.”

They said nothing, just watched me. It made me nervous, but I held my ground. They wouldn’t hurt me, I knew that much, but that wasn’t going to stop them from escorting me from the forest and forbidding me to ever enter again. “Very well,” one said. “Orodor will escortyou to the beast, and then back to Hagrid’s,” he motioned to one who was on my right. He was very impressive, and I bowed my head to him in greeting. Orodor’s face remained stoic. “But next time you enter our territory without permission, we will not stop to talk with you.”

“I understand, thank you.”

“We do not need your thanks.”

Orodor was not exactly good company. He said nothing and walked so fast I struggled to keep up, so he kept stopping and looking back at me with an annoyed expression. Still, there was something else there as he watched me. Eventually, we came to the creature and I sighed happily, rushing past Orodor to her side. She wasn’t visibly showing yet, Hagrid said she was still very early on, which was even more important to look after her. She seemed fine and she didn’t startle at all as I gently touched her neck. “Let’s get you back, yes?”

“You are a strange human,” Orodor said quietly as he escorted us back. “The creature did not shy away from you at all. It trusts you.”

“I just want to help her,” I said, keeping my hand on her neck, knotting my fingers into her mane. She was beautiful. I loved Unicorns, they were such majestic and graceful creatures.

“Many people could approach it with the intent to help and it would still shy from them,” he said again. “She trusts you, I can tell. You have met her before.”

“Probably,” I admitted. “I love watching the Unicorns.”

He hummed. “And you did not raise a want to us, despite us pointing weapons at you.”

“I was in your territory,” I said firmly. “I did not want to hurt you, you are intelligent, no? I knew I could talk with you.”

“But you did not know whether we would listen.”

“But I had to try,” I countered. “What good would a wand do? I didn’t want to fight, my priority was not my safety, even if you had taken me to the edge of the forest, at least I could tell Hagrid where she was.”

“You are a strange human,” he said again, tail flicking as he watched me. “Perhaps I understand why Hagrid would trust you with this.”

I realised it was a compliment and I smiled hugely. Orodor said nothing else after that, and he took me all the way to the edge of the forest by Hagrid’s hut. He said nothing to Hagrid as he rushed over, just gave him a nod, before turning off and returning to the others.

“Blimey, you okay?”

“I’m okay,” I reassured Hagrid. I probably didn’t look it, I had fallen a bit and no doubt my hair was a mess, but—“Is she okay?”

Hagrid checked her over, leading her to a pen in his pumpkin patch. I was surprised she trusted him, Unicorn’s didn’t usually like boys at all, I wonder if it had something to do with Hagrid being, well, Hagrid. 

“She’s okay,” he said. “I’m going to need help looking after her, though, Unicorn’s don’t like men. She’s just tired so allowing me to do it for now. Usually there’s no reason to intervene.”

I nodded, assuring him I was going to do everything he told me to so that I could help her. I wondered what would happen if I hadn’t been a girl and thus not able to help her. “I’ll have to keep students from her,” Hagrid murmured. “I’ll need your help tomorrow, moving her somewhere else, somewhere quieter. For now, go back and get cleaned up and go to dinner, yer look exhausted.”

I awoke the day after to two things; one was a letter from Hagrid over breakfast asking me to go down as soon as I was done and move the Unicorn, the second was a notice pinned onto the front of the Great Hall, telling us that the other two schools would be arriving in a few days and would join us for a welcoming feast. It got everyone talking. Malfoy was very loud about it, apparently his parents had wanted him to go to Durmstrang. Summer was just as vocal about his father’s voice, proclaiming loudly within his earshot that it would have done everyone a favour if he’d gone there. 

The excitement built all week, there was barely any concentration in class. Snape had snapped at four people in potions the day before, and our final class before the other schools was Transfiguration. For once, Fred and George were not the ones who were told off in McGonagall’s class. “I expect you all to be better behaved than this! You’re sixth years, Merlin, I expected better.”

The twins had upped their discussion of how to enter the tournament the past week, putting all discussions about Bagman on the back-burner. He’d ignored all their owls and stopped replying to mine when I had brought it up. What was worse, though, was Ginny asked me why they were acting weird. Or rather, weirder than normal. She was worried they were in deep trouble, but when I had suggested that maybe they should tell someone, Fred had snapped at me. Again. It was becoming less of a daily thing for him to start an argument with me or to tease me, and now more of a ‘whenever he saw me’ kind of thing. He’d even taken to doing it when Angelina as not around.

Summer was not Fred’s greatest fan anymore and refused to even be near him because of it.

It meant that I spent more time alone or with Cedric than anything else, and I desperately missed George. I was stood with him while McGonagall was fussing over some third and fourth years who weren’t dressed properly. It was cold outside, all I could think was how much I wanted to go in. Did we really all have to be outside to greet the other schools? Couldn’t we do it indoors?

“You’re sure you did nothing to him?” George asked for the fifth time. 

“Absolutely,” I muttered. “If I did, I would apologise, Georgie. I may be stubborn, but I value my friendships, I like to think I wouldn’t be so pig headed to let my pride get in the way of a friendship I value… he, obviously, does not value it.”

“I’m sure he does.”

I rolled my eyes. “I just miss you… I don’t care about Fred, he’s free to do as he wishes, if this is how he wants to be—then whatever!”

“Hey, I don’t care if you beat him up, I’m going to still be your friend,” George said firmly. “You really don’t care?”

“Nope,” I lied.

The truth was I did care. I cared a lot. Fred’s sudden disapproval and dislike of me really hurt, but who was I supposed to tell? Summer already disliked Fred, and after her previous suggestion that it was perhaps because he and I liked each other, I didn’t want to bring it up again, I didn’t really feel comfortable talking with Cedric about it, besides he was in such a happy mood these days I didn’t want to ruin it. As for George, well… I didn’t want to put him more in the middle than he already was. The only other person I could talk to was Charlie, but I didn’t want to badmouth Fred to his older brother, so I simply said nothing.

I was rather grateful for the arrival of the schools because it had gotten even colder. Though the students from the French school had arrived with some amazing horses I really wanted to see closer, and even though Durmstrang had brought with them Viktor Krum, all I wanted to do was get in the warmth. I hoped the welcoming feast would be grand, yet the following day would be the Halloween feast, and that was my favourite one of the year. “I do hope the food isn’t so good I won’t have space for tomorrows,” I mumbled. 

George laughed. 

“Viktor Krum!” Ron said excitedly. “Can you believe it?”

“Oh, Ron, really?” Hermione half huffed. “He’s just a person-“

“Just a person? Hermione!”

I sighed, shaking my head as the pair of them started arguing again. “How long do you think it’ll take for them to admit they like each other?” I asked George, sitting next to him. Fred was with Angelina, lagging everyone. He’d take the seat on the other side soon and I would fall silent, focusing on my food more than conversation. The way to avoid an argument was just to let him make whatever comments he wanted. George often didn’t let him get away with it, though, especially since Fred had been getting more and more harsh. The worst part? Angelina didn’t seem to mind. She would just laugh and bat her eyelids at him. She hadn’t said two words to me all term, and I once classed her as one of my closer friends.

George just shrugged. “Probably too long. I rather wish you and Fred argued the same way they did than the way you are now. I wish I knew what had gotten into him. He’s totally out of order, you know that, right? If you hexed him, I wouldn’t stop you.”

“I know,” I mumbled, not really wanting to talk about it.

Fred sat down, Angelina on his other side, soon after, and my conversation stopped. I barely listened to Dumbledore, we would eat first then hear more about the tournament afterwards. I didn’t care for the other guests, I just wanted to leave the hall.

As it was, the elves had entirely out-done themselves. There were dishes from the visiting school’s countries, and many of our student’s favourite foods. I was happy to find some of my own favourite dishes there and happily filled my plate.

“Excusez-moi.”

I jumped, looking up to find a rather handsome, brown haired boy staring down at me. He was wearing the uniform of the French school, Beauxbatons. I just blinked, pulling my fork from my mouth and checking who he was talking to. He laughed. “Non, Cherie, I was, uh, thinking whether this seat is, err… taken?” He motioned to the one the other side of me. George was staring at him curiously. “I am sat o’zer there,” he motioned back towards the Ravenclaw table. “But zey are… not fun to talk to.”

“S-sure,” I moved over a bit more. He spoke briefly with a blonde girl who was, well, gorgeous and suddenly asked Ron if they were going to eat one of the dishes in front of him, then he turned to me. I heard George laugh under his breath, so I kicked him under the table. “You wouldn’t rather be with your school friends?”

“Non,” he laughed, his voice a deep throaty sound. “I ‘ave known them for, err… a long time, no? What iz the point in… coming so far, if not to meet a new Ch é rie or two.” 

George snorted, and I frowned. What on Earth?

“I am Loan.”

“Artemis,” I said slowly. “This is the Gryffindor table,” I said dumbly. “We’re probably more exciting than the Ravenclaw’s at least.”

“And ‘oo iz this?” he asked, staring at George. “Ah, your beau?”

“N-no!” George said quickly, and I threw him a look. “No offence, Mis,” he added, grinning at me. “I’m George.”

“Jorge.”

I choked on my pumpkin juice, trying hard not to laugh. The accent wasn’t his fault at all, but I was certainly going to have to call George ‘Jorge’ from now on. As it turned out, Loan was here to put his name in the goblet; one of the few boys from his school who had been selected as a potential champion. He was a year older than me, and as soon as he’d found out we were younger, he’d become quite arrogant. He was good looking, and he knew it too. Every time a girl spoke to him, he’d bat his eyelids, puff his chest out, and charm them. It made me miss Cedric, at least he was kind and humble.

“So,” George said when Loan had left. “Where you flirting?”

“What?!” I almost choked again. “With him? Absolutely not, he was flirting with everyone.”

“Including you.”

“Get off it, George,” I mumbled, turning as Dumbledore stood up.

Instantly, Fred and George paid attention to him. They wanted to know everything about how to enter if they were going to try and fool the judge; Lee and I just grinned at each other. We would join in with them… if they proved it was safe first. In fact, it seemed it would be incredibly easy to fool it; it was just a magical item. Fooling that would be easy, even I agreed it would be easy. A simple ageing potion should work, we’d only need a few drops each.

“You in, Ron?” Fred asked on the way back to the common room.

“Heck yeah, doesn’t it sound good?” He turned to Harry. “Eternal glory.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” he mumbled.

“Ron, you’re underage,” I sighed.

“You are too,” he said indignantly.

I sniffed. “Only by a few months, the chance of you knowing the magic required- oh, speaking of which,” I turned to George. “I’ll get you the list of things to brew a perfect ageing potion as soon as we get back.”

Hermione sighed deeply, looking very annoyed. “You’re going to help them brew it?”

“She’s the best at potions,” George shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. Hermione just glared and stormed off ahead, Harry close behind her. “That prize money.”

I stared at him somewhat sadly. I hadn’t really understood their want to enter so badly, I had thought they would spend the year too busy making products, but it was about that then. I wanted to enter, not really for the glory, but to prove myself. To prove I belonged here, not just in Gryffindor, but Hogwarts in general. I didn’t care about the gold, I hadn’t thought about it—“George,” I said, dropping my voice. He hung back to talk with me, neither of the others had noticed it. “If I get picked, and I somehow win….”

“I’ll cheer for you all the way.”

“I know you would, Georgie, but,” I stared up at him, my mind already made up. “Then I’d give you and Freddie the winnings.”

“What?” He stopped walking. “But why? You could use it too; your books are in a worse state than mine are this year…” he frowned.

“I don’t need it. I don’t have some grand joke shop in mind that I need an investment to start up with,” I just grinned at him. “Besides, it’s a little selfish for me to give it to you, this way you can succeed, and I can laugh at Percy when you finally prove him wrong.”

George snorted, putting his arm around my shoulder. “You’re one of a kind, Missy,” he said gently. “You’d even give it to Fred after how he’s been recently?”

“Of course. George, I don’t care if he hates me-“

“I don’t think he hates you-“

“I don’t care if he does,” I said quickly. I lied, I did care. “But he’s one of my best friends, you bet I’m going to support him.”

He stared at me strangely and said nothing as we caught up to the others. There wasn’t much else to be said; I hurried upstairs and wrote down the exact ingredients and steps needed for the ageing potion, and then handed it over to George. They were going to start brewing it in the evening, so it would be ready by lunch time tomorrow. I wanted to help, but I needed to go down to help Hagrid out first thing in the morning. With that, we said good night to each other.

The horses that had pulled the carriage of the French students were now in Hagrid’s care, kind of. While Madam Maxime had designated a few of her students to care for them, Hagrid had insisted he do a lot of the work. I was positive he had a crush on her, yet I didn’t care much, if it meant I got to go closer to the beasts I would be thankful for it. “My ‘orses do not like new people,” she said deeply.

“She’ll be alrigh’,” Hagrid said gruffly as I gently approached them. “Never seen someone like ‘er.”

I blushed at his compliment, and indeed to his words, the horses didn’t shy away from me at all. The closest one nuzzled into my hand as I rubbed his snout. “You’re a handsome boy, aren’t you?” I smiled at him.

“Manifique,” Madam Maxime said softly. “You are going to enter?”

“I-“

“She’s a few months too young,” Hagrid said before I could.

I wished he hadn’t said anything. While it was true they would know I wasn’t old enough if my name came out, and while she had no say in my name being chosen, it now felt more explicitly awful if I were to submit my name. I just frowned, focusing on feeding the horses their whisky while the two spoke.

So, caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice I had company until Hagrid cleared his throat. “What?” I jumped, looking at him, then into the direction he motioned. Cedric was stood there, keeping his distance. “Oh… Ced, how long have you been there? I’m sorry!” I cleaned my hands off, stepping away and to his side.

“Not long, I liked watching you-“ he paused. “I just mean you have a way with them. You look happy, happier than I’ve seen you in a while.”

I smiled at him. “Did you submit your name yet?”

“Not yet. I kind of… wanted you to be there when I did.”

Maybe it was bad of me, but I stood there, staring up at him and willing myself to have feelings for him. Yet it didn’t work, and even if it did, he liked Cho Chang now. I wasn’t jealous, in fact I felt almost nothing for her, just protectiveness of Cedric, I guessed. I didn’t want her to hurt him, he deserved only the very best. I would feel the same for all my friends. 

“Well, I need to meet the twins up there at noon anyway,” I said, walking up with him. “They’re working on an ageing potion.”

He laughed, throwing his head back. “Gryffindors.”

I nudged his side. “What’s life without a little bit of rule breaking?”

“Gryffindors,” he said again, still laughing. “Dumbledore drew an age line himself, you know. You think an ageing potion will work?”

“There’s only one way to know, isn’t there?” I grinned up at him. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

Cedric shook his head. “Away where it isn’t going to get me into trouble.”

I just laughed. The great hall was a hive of activity, there were people submitting names, but many more people just watching. Hermione was to the side with Summer, though she was reading. Summer bounded over when we entered. “Ced!” She said happily. “Are you putting your name in?”

“Yes,” he said deeply, pulling out a bit of parchment with his name already written on it.

It seemed silly, how tense it was just to put his name in it, yet I held my breath as he stepped over the line and put his name in. It was over in seconds, and then his other friends cheered, and Summer proclaimed loudly everyone else could stop submitting because Cedric was very obviously going to win.

“There you are,” George said, out of breath. I was trying not to laugh as Cedric ignored Ron’s high five; apparently, he’d entirely forgotten who he was. He hadn’t done it on purpose, he was just too caught up with his other friends he hadn’t seen it, yet Ron’s face and look of dejection were rather funny. “We just finished it.”

“Here,” Lee said, handing me a small vial. “You should need only a tiny amount.”

“I know, I know,” I nodded. “So, who first?”

“We will,” Fred said loudly, moving to stand near George. “It was our idea, if it goes wrong….”

And go wrong it did. A few moments later the pair of them were fighting on the floor, both sporting rather glorious, long beards. Yeah, there was no way I was going to try the potion; besides I was too busy holding my sides laughing. Summer had to sit me down to the side before I fell over. 

“Honestly, what did they think was going to happen? Serves them right!” Hermione said.

“I never want that image to go out of my mind,” I said, finally calming from laughing.

“You going to go see how they are?” Summer asked quietly. “I’ll come up with you.”

I shook my head. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

“You just don’t want to argue with Fred again.”

I sighed.

“You can’t blame her, Summer,” Hermione said quietly. “Some of the arguments are pretty bad, actually it reminded me that Ron isn’t that bad… sometimes.”

“Can we not talk about this?” I mumbled.

“I think you just need to hurry up and admit you like him before this… fighting ruins your friendship,” Summer said, standing up and staring at me. “Even if you don’t tell him, please admit it to yourself. Hermione agrees with me-“ though Hermione nodded, she did look very much like she wished Summer hadn’t dragged her name into it. “Please, you look so unhappy these days.”

I don’t know why but I snapped at her then. I was trying not to yell, but I was positive my furious whispers could be heard on the other side of the entrance hall. “Of course, I’m unhappy, I’m fighting with my best friend all the time.”

“Just ad-“

“Quit it, Summer,” I muttered, walking off before I could get angrier.

I did not like Fred Weasley! How could I? I hadn’t even thought about it before, the idea of kissing him made me feel nothing. I had at least thought I had liked Cedric and I had been entirely wrong, so how could I possibly have feelings for someone that I’d never even had the notion of liking? It was absurd, and the idea, surprisingly, angered me. For what reason, I didn’t know. It wasn’t as if liking him would be the worst thing in the world; Fred was a good person… most of the time.

I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up some homework in the library where it was thankfully quiet. I put my books away and went to dinner just in time to get my usual seat next to George. Fred was fawning over how Angelina had put her name in. 

“You look in an awful mood,” George said apprehensively.

“Summer and Hermione,” I grunted. “And the last thing I want to hear is how amazing it is someone put their name in. Your beard is gone.”

He laughed. “It was a good try, though.”

I nodded vaguely, glad when the food appeared so I could focus on eating rather than talking. I wasn’t the only person whom Fred seemed to be pissing off, though, because Lee kept mumbling under his breath about how it was putting him off his food, and that they should just date and stop flirting all the time. I agreed; it was starting to get annoying.

The selection of the champions happened straight after dinner. The tables were gone, and the benches were pushed against the walls. Dumbledore dimed the lights and almost everyone seemed to hold their breaths, eyes trained on the goblet of fire for the first name.

Fleur Delacour was the first one.

Viktor Krum was the second.

And for Hogwarts?

“Cedric Diggory.”

I almost pushed poor George off in my excitement, leaning forward to squeeze Cedric’s hand as he hurried off to where the champions were meeting. “I stand by what I said,” Summer said loudly over the cheers. The Hufflepuffs were looking so proud and I was happy for them; they never got noticed, something like this would really make them stand out for once. I always admired them; they worked so hard but never really showed off about it. “Cedric is going to win.”

I was inclined to agree; I didn’t know how the other two were. Viktor Krum was a good flier, but what about Fleur? She was pretty, beautiful even, but what about her spells and wand work? But I did know about Cedric, and I knew he was intelligent, talented, hardworking-

The goblet glowed, cutting off what Dumbledore was saying. Another piece of paper flew from the air and he caught it automatically, reading the name in his mind first. My stomach dropped, I had the sickening feeling I knew whose name was on that paper; he always got caught up in dangerous things. I had been foolish to think that he wouldn’t get mixed up in this,

“Harry Potter.”


	13. Truce

Almost everyone in the school thought Harry had put his name into the goblet. The Gryffindors were the only ones who seemed to be on Harry’s side, but even then, a lot of them believed he’d done it. I think there was about four or five of us who didn’t think that. Ron was not included there, and he and Harry were no longer talking. I had tried to talk Ron around while he was hanging out with the twins and I, but it had resulted in Fred snapping at me.

“You congratulated Cedric,” he said firmly.

“Of course, I did,” I scoffed. “He’s one of my best friends.”

“You should be on Harry’s side.”

I inhaled deeply. “I’m not going to pit them against each other, I can support them both,” I said, trying to make myself taller than him and failing desperately. The way he was talking was as if I hadn’t said anything to support Harry at all.

The Hufflepuff’s were the ones who seemed to resent Harry the most, when I’d sat with Cedric for dinner that same evening, they’d all given me rather cold stares. At least until they realised Cedric didn’t like their behaviour. Even then….

“Ced, you know he didn’t put his name in, right?” I asked him on the way to potions the following morning. 

“I know, I believe you,” he said. “They’re all just… upset because Hufflepuff never get a look in, do they? Gryffindor gets all the glory, Slytherin has the reputation, Ravenclaw are smart.”

“I know,” I squeezed his forearm.

Things were difficult. Ron was not talking to me after I snapped at him, and while George tried to keep the peace, it didn’t work so well. At some point, Fred and I had come to an unspoken agreement to be polite and civil. It was odd, and tense between us, but I rarely saw him. He spent a lot of time with Angelina when he wasn’t busy with George trying to track down Bagman. George had told Ron not to be a brat to me, at least until I told him not to bother getting in the middle. 

Summer hated Fred for snapping at me, and she now disliked Ron for how he was acting. She’d lectured her housemates in the common room, according to Cedric, demanding they all stop wearing the ridiculous ‘Potter stinks’ badges. They’d laughed at her—something which had been difficult for her to stomach and ran off crying. Cedric had found me and Hermione in the library and asked us to go check on her since she was in the girls’ bathroom.

My one solace in all of this was probably Charlie. He knew nothing about the messed-up friendships and arguments, so writing with him was like almost nothing was going on. I had been tending to the pregnant Unicorn one morning, when Apollo had bought a letter straight down to me from him. I had already confessed to him I figured there would be dragons involved in the tournament, so I wasn’t surprised when his letter said I would be able to meet with him that evening. I was glad for it, though I wasn’t entirely sure if I was more excited to see him or the dragons themselves. I was sworn to secrecy, however, and he had made me promise in our letters that I not tell Cedric nor Harry anything, otherwise he wasn’t going to let me see them.

The prospect of seeing him in person that night put a spring in my step, so much that dinner went by quickly, and the frosty atmosphere between Fred and I didn’t bother me at all. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” George asked as we headed back up to the common room. I was going to change into warmer clothes then head down to meet Hagrid, who would escort me there.

“I’m, err, helping Hagrid tonight,” I said.

“Tonight? You know Charlie is visiting this week,” his eyes narrowed. “You two talk a lot, but you haven’t mentioned it.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I know.” When he kept staring at me I sighed. “Georgie, look, I’m sworn to secrecy, but in a few days, you’ll know, okay?” I grinned. The first task was three days away. “Are you going to meet Charlie?”

“Tomorrow, Fred, Ginny, Ron, and I are going to have breakfast with him,” he shrugged. “It’s odd, seeing him so often. Why’s he here though?”

I laughed, patting his shoulder. He was intelligent, he would figure it out before the task, that I was sure of. I guess the prospect of students having to face a dragon was so absurd it just hadn’t crossed his mind. Honestly, I felt sick. I had faith in Cedric, but even then, it was still dangerous. Harry, on the other hand.

I watched as he rushed past me. 

He was so small, so young….

Half an hour later I was rushing down to Hagrid’s, wrapped in a thick jumper and a scarf. Hagrid, of course, was ecstatic to be able to see the dragons; he adored them. “Merlin!” He said loudly, as we got to a clearing with four, very large cages. “Look at ‘em!”

“Blimey,” I murmured. “They’re so big.”

“Well, they are dragons, Missy,” a deep voice said.

“Charlie!” I said happily, hugging him tightly. I had missed him and having him there took my mind away from the reality of how messed up everything else was. I didn’t want him to go, and because of that, I probably clung to him a little longer than I should have.

“You okay there?” he said quietly. “You lost weight. You’re smaller than you were over summer…” He stood back, his arms on my shoulders as he looked me over. I knew I looked a mess; dark circles, pale skin, my finger nails ruined from where I had taken to biting them in worry over everything. 

I didn’t want to get him involved, but I couldn’t help it. I just blurted it out. Moody, Fred, Angelina, Ron, Harry, Fred again. By the time I was done, I was crying, and he was rubbing my back. I felt a lot better finally getting it out there, but… “I want to go home,” I admitted very quietly. “Selene hasn’t written to me at all… Felix says she’s writing to someone, but…” my shoulders fell. “And things with Fred-“ I choked. “I don’t know what I did to him. George reckons I didn’t do anything, b-but he’s one of my b-best friends and the idea t-that I might lose him-“ I hiccupped.

“Artemis,” he sighed softly. “Why didn’t you put any of this in a letter? You didn’t have to bottle it up.”

“I didn’t want to put you in the middle like George already is,” I admitted. “He’s your brother, I shouldn’t talk bad about him to you…”

“If he’s being a git, which he is, you absolutely should,” Charlie replied, squeezing my shoulders. “Do you want to see the dragons closer? Get your mind off this for a bit?”

It did help, getting close to them. I was too enthralled by them to even think of being scared, it resolved my decision to take the study program next summer even more. In fact, I managed to get so close to the Welsh Green which was sleeping, I was able to touch the scales on her neck. It was a safer position, since she couldn’t breathe fire on me there, but she never woke up.

“You really have balls,” Charlie laughed on the way up to the castle. We’d been out for hours, Hagrid had long since returned, and Charlie didn’t want me going back alone. They were staying with the dragons to keep an eye on them, though. 

I just grinned. “Isn’t touching a dragon a once in a life time opportunity? I won’t pass that up,” I laughed. Away from them, where the very nasty Horntail had been constantly breathing fire, it was much colder. I was glad for the closeness of him to keep me warm. I felt so much lighter after getting everything off my chest.

In another lifetime, I supposed there would have been something between him and I. We had natural chemistry and the same interests; I could just imagine him and I travelling the world and working with dragons and other beasts. Yet, in this one, it didn’t seem to fit. It was as if we were part of the same puzzle, but not pieces which matched together. We just didn’t… quite seem to join up. He was like a brother to me, in a similar way to George.

George and Charlie invited me to have breakfast with them the following morning, and Ginny had almost insisted on it, but I had just let them eat alone, instead preferring to sit with Summer and Cedric at the Hufflepuff table. “Is that Charlie Weasley?” Summer asked. “Why is he here?”

“It’s a secret,” I said quickly.

Her eyes narrowed. 

“Cho looks pretty today,” I said, trying to distract her. Cedric’s head whipped around quickly, eyes finding her instantly. I laughed. “Don’t you think?”

“Y-yeah, she does.”

“Oh boy,” Summer laughed. “He has it bad.”

“How are things with Neville?”

“O-oh,” she frowned, tearing the crusts off her toast like she always did. Then she occupied herself by spreading some thick marmalade on it. “I thought… maybe he was going to ask me on a date for the next Hogsmeade, but…”

“You could ask him,” I pointed out.

“It would mean more if he did it,” she whispered.

I smiled. I understood; Neville was shy around her, and he lacked confidence, if he could ask her, it would really show how much he liked her. I had faith in him, though, that he would do it. He liked her so much, they’d been closer than ever recently.

“What about you?” Cedric asked. 

“Me?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Is there anyone you like?”

Summer scoffed, folding her arms over her chest, now having no interest in her breakfast. “No,” I said, ignoring her. “There isn’t anyone.”

“What about that Beauxbatons boy? What was his name? Loan? You talk to him a lot.”

“He talks to every girl a lot,” I pointed out. “He’s not… my type.”

Summer frowned, now more interested. “What even is your type?”

This wasn’t really a conversation I wanted to have, not after I’d finally gotten all the stress off my chest. I didn’t want to argue with her. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m not sure I have one—I guess a sense of humour.”

“I guess that’s why we didn’t work,” Cedric joked.

I laughed. “You’re plenty funny, Ced.”

Summer eyed me up, her eyes flicking over to the Gryffindor table. George looked over as I did, his face full of concern. I had a sinking suspicion Charlie was lecturing Fred over how he’d been, and I suddenly felt sick. “You like funny boys with a sense of danger,” she said. “And guys who seem kind, but then treat you awfully.”

“Summer,” I snapped.

“What’s this?” Cedric asked. “Who?”

“Fr-“

“Nobody,” I said quickly.

“Fred Weasley,” Summer said firmly. “She likes him, he’s a total arse.”

“I do not like him,” I muttered. “Why would I like him, Summer, when I started crying in front of his older brother, because of him?” I mumbled, pushing my plate away and standing up. “I have Hagrid first, I’m going to go down and see to the unicorn before. See you later.”

I didn’t want to admit I had cried because of Fred, but I had, and he was probably going to be super mad about me saying anything, too. I dreaded it.

His anger never came, though. I had Charms class with the twins, and to my surprise, Fred did not take the seat next to George, and instead took the one next to me. I hadn’t been sat between them the entire term, it was an odd feeling. “Hi,” he greeted quietly.

I watched him, wondering if it was going to be followed up by some insult. “Hi.”

George let out a breath he’d been holding and went into a monologue about some progress they’d made on their skiving snack boxes. Fred said little, but that was better than the open hostility or the forced niceness. “And you,” he added under his breath. “Dragons.”

I grinned. “Did you see them?”

“Blimey, no, but that’s the first task, isn’t it?”

I didn’t confirm it, but I was sure my grimace confirmed it. He wasn’t the only one to ask me about them, either. The day after, Cedric grabbed me after my defence class and dragged me to one of the quieter corridors. He was pale and out of breath. “W-what? Cedric?”

“Dragons. You knew.”

“H-how did you know?”

“Harry told me.”

I pulled a face; how did he know? I hoped they wouldn’t think I told them.

“Krum and Fleur know too,” he added, breathing heavily. Cedric ran his fingers through his hair. “We have to… battle it?”

“I don’t know the details,” I said simply.

“H-have you seen them?”

“Yes.”

He gulped. “T-this whole thing doesn’t seem as fun anymore,” he admitted. “Any pointers?”

“The horntail is nasty, pray you don’t have to go near that one?” I joked weakly. “They’re intelligent beasts, if they can get a prey easier than you, they’re going to go for it. Also, their eyes are a weakness to them, but I wouldn’t advise attacking them-“ I inhaled.

He didn’t seem too relieved. Harry, meanwhile, was paler. Summer and Hermione had dragged me to one of the unused classrooms after dinner. Harry had been sitting there with a pile of cushions, apparently practicing the summoning charm. A suggestion from Moody. “Dragons,” he mumbled. “And that one… it was so…. Nasty.”

“The horntail,” I said, sitting next to him. “Harry, it’s okay to be scared. They’re terrifying creatures. They can crush you, or incinerate you-“

“Reassuring, thanks.”

I gave him a weak smile. “Harry, there’s little I can do to aid you with this. You know that, right? All the things I could suggest are spells which even Cedric would struggle with. I’ll tell you what I told him, but if Moody seems to think getting your broom is the best chance, and I quite agree with him, then I would focus on that.”

“Can you help us with the summoning charm, then?” Summer asked. “Harry’s almost got it, but….”

“But, the help of a senior might help. Flitwick mentioned you were good at summoning charms in class,” Hermione said. 

“Me?” I laughed. “I’m surprised, Flitwick loves the twins,” I shrugged. “I guess because it’s the one spell I do better than them?” I raised an eyebrow. My will to learn and master it quickly had borne from pure laziness, honestly. It was much easier to find things in my messy trunk with that spell, easier to get a book from across the room if I didn’t want to stand up, and while I may have been able to just levitate it, that spell took a lot more effort.

Harry was a quick learner, though. He really was talented, but… people had died in this tournament before. I couldn’t help but feel that however his name got in the goblet, it wasn’t just for a joke or some ‘banter’. Whoever did it, meant to cause him harm if not worse. I shuddered thinking about it.

“What do you think of Moody?” Hermione asked me on the way back to the common room. 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think I preferred Lupin… Moody’s classes are interesting but… they’re a bit heavy, no? And I’m not sure I like his methods, putting the imperius curse on students….”

“He did that to your year too?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I should be asking you that,” I said quickly. “You’re all much too young—he shouldn’t have even shown us until final year-“ I inhaled, stopping myself from getting worked up. 

“Actually,” Hermione said quietly. “Summer’s been skipping his classes since the first one, well, as many as she can.”

I stopped walking. “What?”

“Moody asked Neville about it, and I overheard Professor Sprout asking her after Herbology last week why she wasn’t going. I thought maybe she’d have told you something?”

“No, she hasn’t mentioned it,” I frowned. “I thought she was just acting strange because of Anita and her mother suddenly being best friends again. I’ll ask her about it tomorrow.”

Summer didn’t appreciate me bringing it up. As soon as the question about why she wasn’t going, and why she hadn’t said anything had left my lips, she’d scrunched her face up in dislike and indignation. “Summer, come on, you can’t skip classes.”

“I-I just can’t… those are unforgiveable curses, Mis,” she said weakly, resting her hands in her laps. “Seeing them… I just couldn’t. Knowing what people did with those curses, it made me feel sick… I don’t want them to be used on me… A lot of my family died in the war, you know, and Anita’s job is to go against dark witches and wizards, she probably see’s those curses a lot… the idea of them being used on her-“ she inhaled. “A-and…” I stayed silent, letting her talk. “I don’t want to seem weak… I know I couldn’t resist the spell.”

“Sum, a lot of people can’t do it, we’re just children,” I grabbed her hand gently, squeezing it. “The only reason I can just about do it is because I’m stubborn as a rock, Harry is Harry, isn’t he? Of course, he can do it,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Summer, don’t be ashamed of being scared. It’s a natural thing.”

“Not to you.”

“Summer, did you forget what happened to me at the world cup?”

“That was different,” she said quickly.

“No,” I paused. “It really wasn’t.”

“Those dragons don’t scare you.”

I sighed. “Summer, plenty of things scare me. The idea of losing you, or Cedric, Fred, or George—the idea alone…” I shook my head.

“But that’s not something you can really control,” she mumbled.

“I don’t know, I like to think I would give my life for any of yours.”

“I couldn’t-“ she said quickly. “I’d be too scared… what if death hurts? I’m such a coward. I’m nothing like Anita.”

“Oh, Summer,” I sighed, hugging her tightly. “You’re not a coward, it’s natural to fear things. You can’t ever be brave if you’re always scared.”

“I’m scared of the dark,” she said quietly.

“I’m scared of drowning.”

“What?” she looked at me. “Really?”

I nodded. “Why do you think I never go swimming in the lake in summer?” I shrugged. “When I was little, I was at the beach with my family and I got a cramp in my leg. I almost drowned. I reckon magic saved me… if I wasn’t a witch, what would have happened?”

It seemed to help her, even a little. Summer promised me she’d go back to classes after that and I told her I would certainly be checking with Moody if she had (I wouldn’t, I didn’t ever want to be alone with him). But the calmness didn’t last long. Soon, the morning of the first task loomed.

Fred and I had seemingly come to a truce. Neither he nor George had said anything about what Charlie had said to me, though George was being extra kind to me. Always making sure I was eating. I tried not to get angry at him for it, I knew he was just concerned about me. All the avoiding Fred had caused me to lose a bit too much weight, though I also couldn’t help but notice it was a bit too fast. I had learned, from letters with Felix, that Selene was losing weight too, yet she was eating more than ever. To me, this was good; it sounded like finally, we would be growing up. Goodbye to the puppy fat, hello to not looking like I was twelve for the rest of my life.

“Please, Missy, eat something,” George said, offering me an apple.

“I-I can’t, George,” I said, wringing my hands. We were stood outside, both were taking bets on the task. “I feel too sick. I promise I’ll go to the kitchens after the task and eat everything Widget puts in front of me.”

“Good,” he said firmly. After a few moments, he grinned. “Want to bet? I’ll give you good odds on Harry and Cedric.”

“Oh, you’re impossible,” I gasped out, hitting his arm. “I’ll put five galleons on each.”

“Arte,” Fred sighed, coming over. “You can’t bet on both.”

“I have confidence in both!”

“But only one can get first place,” he mumbled.

“Then I guess you get free money, don’t you?” I frowned. “I don’t want to bet against them.”

The truth was, I was certain Cedric would beat Harry in points for the task. I was more concerned with Harry’s life, and I certainly wasn’t going to put a bet on whether he was going to lose his life. I drew the line there. Summer had refused to bet at all, simply dragging Neville off towards the Quidditch pitch where the first task would take place. She had decided, since she got disliked no matter who she cheered for, she would instead cheer for Fleur. It had made her popular with the Beauxbatons students, especially Loan. Neville didn’t seem to like him much. I couldn’t blame him. Neither Cedric nor Harry were insulted or upset by her choice, Cedric had found it hilarious. Ron, when he found out, had asked why she wasn’t backing Krum. 

Yet, as the first task started, everyone seemed to realise it was a lot more serious than they had thought. One look at Ron’s face when a dragon had gone for Cedric had seemingly caused him to realise that, there was absolutely no way Harry would ever have willingly volunteered for this. I think he’d known it for a while, but he’d been too stubborn to admit it. By the time it was Harry’s turn, I think I had pulled out most of my hair from stress. My lips were bleeding badly from chewing them, because at some point, George had taken my hands and held onto them tight, so I couldn’t chew my nails or pull my hair or do anything else. I was certain I was crushing his hands in a vice grip, but he didn’t flinch or say anything.

“I can’t believe they’re going to make Harry fight a dragon,” he muttered.

“And not just any one,” I said weakly. “The only one missing is the Hungarian Horntail… that one was exceptionally nasty. Even Charlie wasn’t fond of it,” I sighed. “This is awful. I hope they’re all okay.” Cedric seemed to have gotten burned, and while Madam Pomfrey could probably heal it up instantly, I was still very worried. 

Yet, Harry did brilliantly. There were a few close moments, to which I hid my face in George’s shoulder, but as soon as he’d summoned his broom and flown off, the dragon breaking free and chasing him, Harry had looked a lot more confident. It was mostly a waiting game since they’d both disappeared. I felt so much relief when Harry appeared to grab the golden egg, George’s cheers in my ear deafened me, but I couldn’t help but join in. Just two more tasks left, and they were going to be more dangerous.

I didn’t miss Fred’s disapproving stare when I excused myself to congratulate Cedric, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to fight with him when things had been nice and… peaceful between us for the past few days. Cedric was fine, though he believed me to be mad for willingly being close to those dragons. After Cedric, I went to say goodbye to Charlie. I hadn’t gotten to see him much while he was here, but after I told him I would absolutely study next summer in Romania, he told me he would get things ready for me, even though it was only November. 

George was waiting for me at the main gates to the school, wanting to make sure I followed through on my promise to eat plenty after the task. Honestly, I was starving and didn’t protest at all when Widget kept piling food up to me. It was only because I’d reminded her that dinner was in a few hours that she didn’t give me more and eventually let me go.

The common room was a roar of yells and cheers when we entered. George instantly melted into the crowd, talking with people who wanted his attention. Fred was with Angelina, and when I’d entered he’d locked eyes with me. I wanted to go over and speak to him, I missed him so badly, but he just looked away. Instead I just found Lee, Katie, and Alicia and spent some time with them. 

The party was quickly broken up when Harry opened the egg and a loud, piercing cry came through the air. Everyone covered their ears as Harry fumbled to close the egg back up—what on earth?

“What the bloody hell was that?”

I was glad that Ron and Harry made up then. Hermione and Ginny had found the entire thing ridiculous, but needless, they were also both glad. I knew George was too, as much as he loved his younger brother, he complained endlessly that Ron wouldn’t leave them alone, and it made dealing with Bagman more difficult than it had been.

“Any ideas?” Harry asked me, sitting beside me. The party had mostly dispersed with people getting ready for dinner now. “Not some form of dragon, is it?”

“Definitely not,” I laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know what it could be.” 

“I hope it’s not someone being tortured,” he said darkly. 

“Oh, Harry, do you really think Dumbledore is going to allow someone to put the cruciatus curse on you all? The imperius curse is one thing, but, Harry, come on!” I shook my head. 

Turns out, Cedric was just as confused about it as Harry was. He had absolutely no idea and was just glad that they had some time to figure it out since the task wouldn’t happen until after new year. I reminded him, and Harry, quite frequently that they should really focus on it. Neither of them had to take end of year exams, so it didn’t really matter, but they both insisted they were working on it.

“I’m just saying,” I murmured to Cedric during potions. “You don’t know how long you’ll need to prepare for this.”

“I only had a few days to prepare for a dragon,” he said simply. “I doubt anything could be more threatening than that.”

I mean, he wasn’t wrong. I doubt they could find anything worse than a dragon, at least in a form of a beast; and it would surely get boring for the people watching if each task was just some dangerous creature. 

The pregnant Unicorn was doing well, though. She wouldn’t let Hagrid anywhere near her, now, so I was doing as much as I could for her. Hagrid had asked a friend of his to help me out and show me what to do a few weeks ago and I’d been thankful for it. There was surprisingly little in the library on the topic. There wasn’t much I could do, just make sure she was in good health and use a few spells she’d taught me to check on the foal. They were both fine, she was a rather affectionate creature too, and always happy whenever I went to see her. I always went before breakfast, after lunch, and before dinner. Classes were going well, too. Snape was a lot better with us, he rarely made snide remarks unless people messed up or didn’t pay attention, which wasn’t too often in the sixth-year class. There were a few students he very obviously didn’t like, and he often gave Lee Jordan a suspicious glare as though he was hiding Fred and George under his robes. And, just as she had promised, Summer had started returning to Moody’s classes, though she often sat at the back and stayed silent. The best part, though, was that the truce Fred and I seemed to have made, was still going on. I sat between them both during charms still, and we had progressed from just saying ‘hi’ to having actual conversations. It seemed, that maybe, things were looking up. 


	14. Reality

Despite my first few years being lonely, I have many good memories of Hogwarts. I can clearly recount to you the day we finished exams in fourth year, and we had spent time enjoying the sunshine outside while watching the giant squid in the lake also enjoy the sun. It was inconsequential, but I remember it nonetheless. But I also remember my sixth and seventh years more clearly. They were not marked with the happiness of the previous years, instead they were heavy and I while I can’t remember them in entire detail, I do remember feeling so hopeless and so alone for much of those years. Still, my clearest memory of Hogwarts is not a happy one, but it is, perhaps, the most important memory of mine.

December of my fifth year.

All the hype after the first task had calmed right down. Thoughts had strayed off the upcoming second task (which Cedric assured me he had almost figured out), and instead everyone was excited for the Christmas Holidays. The excitement had escalated more, during the final week of term when McGonagall had held a house meeting for fourth years and above.

It was odd, seeing the class room so empty. There were seats on either side of the room, to which she directed girls on one side, and boys on the other. “I don’t like where this is going,” I mumbled to Hermione, sitting beside her. She just smiled at me, though had little idea as to what we were going to be doing all together.

Dread filled me when the words ‘Yule Ball’ and ‘Dance’ fell from McGonagall’s mouth. I slumped in my chair, wanting to hide so desperately. At least the dresses made sense. “To think I passed up the family holiday for a dance,” I muttered.

“It could be fun.”

I stared at her sceptically. “You’re aware we’re going to need dates, right?”

“I’m sure we can find somebody,” she said coolly, trying hard not to laugh when McGonagall forced Ron to demonstrate with her. 

I looked across the hall to find Fred and George all but howling with laughter at their brother. George caught my eye and grinned, giving me a sly wink to which I just giggled. Maybe I could ask him—maybe we could go as friends. Yet, my stomach felt weird when I thought about it. Not nervous, not sick or anything like that, it was more a nagging feeling, as if there was something I was overlooking.

In fact, I didn’t quite realise what the feeling was until Fred asked Angelina to the ball and I felt myself deflate. What had I even been hoping? For him to suddenly forget the girl he was crushing on and ask me? The person he had gone out of his way to show nothing but dislike for, for most of the term? Apparently, I had been hoping for that. To my horror, I had wanted to go to the ball with Fred. “Just as friends,” I said to myself, staring at the floor as I hurried along the corridors. It was getting colder now, with snow covering the ground outside, and inside the castle was just as cold. Going with him as friends would have been good—maybe we could have started to go back to normal after it.

With that prospect gone, I turned to George who declined me quickly, though with an apology. Some Ravenclaw girl from our year had asked him. I wasn’t even aware she knew who he was, then again, I supposed most people knew the twins. “I didn’t know you had a thing for anyone,” I murmured to him in the library one evening. Hermione glanced up at us, an eyebrow raised. “Fiona Greenwing, a girl in our year, asked him to the ball.”

“Who?” she frowned.

“Tall girl, really shy,” I said. “She used to have really bad acne, but it cleared up this year. She has black hair.”

“I honestly don’t know her,” Hermione sighed.

George mumbled. “She’s kind of pretty… and honestly, I felt bad for her,” he admitted. “She looked so sick asking me out, like really nervous. I figured it couldn’t hurt to go with her. I’m sorry, Mis, I would have gone with you otherwise.”

“Why don’t you ask Fred?” Hermione asked.

I snorted. “He’s going with Angelina.”

“Why would she ask Fred?” George laughed, trying to keep his voice quiet so Madam Pince wouldn’t come over and tell us off. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hermione, but they fight like cats and dogs recently.”

“I’ve noticed,” she said again, barely batting an eyelid. “I’ll say I’ve noticed a lot more than you have.”

“What?”

“Ignore her,” I mumbled. “Who am I gonna ask? Neville already asked Summer, Cedric is going with Cho-“

“Oh, Harry will be heartbroken,” Hermione sighed. “Maybe you can go with him?”

“Maybe,” I chewed my lip. “That would be kind of awkward though,” I pointed out.

“Shame you can’t ask Charlie to come,” George laughed.

I hit his arm, sighing. “Hermione? You want to go as friends?”

“Oh, Artemis, I’m sorry,” she blushed. “B-but somebody already asked me.”

“What? Was it Ron?” I grinned.

“N-no…”

“So, who?”

“It’s… a secret,” she said slowly, going even more red in the face. “O-oh, alright. It was Viktor.”

“As in Krum?” I said at full volume.

She quieted me quickly as Madam Pince ran over to glare at us. She stared at us for a few more moments, so the three of us pretended to go back to work until she left. “Y-yes. He asked me yesterday….”

“Wow,” George mumbled. “Ron will be heartbroken.”

“Then he should have asked himself,” Hermione muttered.

“I don’t think Ron would have asked Krum, ‘Mione,” George pointed out.

I laughed again, and this time Madam Pince forced me to leave. Hermione and George stayed behind, the latter trying to research a potion for their products which I had been unable to help him with. Who was I supposed to go with? I could just… not go? I sighed. Summer wouldn’t let me stay behind, and when I thought of the dress back in my dorm. I sighed wistfully.

So caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t look where I was going until I crashed into someone. “O-oh I’m so sorry!”

“Oh, it’s no- it was me,” I said quickly, helping the girl pick up some books. She was hidden behind a huge pile and I’d knocked into her and a few had fallen off. “Oh,” I said, taking half of them off her to help her. “You’re Fiona.”

“Oh.” She stared at me. She had the strangest colour eyes, they reminded me of Madam Hooch’s, but they were more orange. I’d never noticed before how pretty she was, very delicate looking. Her skin was so pale, lips red. She could have easily been mistaken for snow white. “Artemis, right? D-did George mention me…?”

“Yeah,” I smiled at her. “He’s really looking forward to going with you.”

She stated at me, adjusting her glasses for a moment. “I thought he would say no,” she confessed. “I thought you two… that you… you and George, well….”

“That…? Oh!” I laughed. “No… I mean, I did ask him, just now,” I said. “As friends,” I added, seeing her alarmed expression. “George is like a brother to me, you didn’t think….?”

“W-well you’re very close,” she pointed out. “I’m sorry if I ruined your plans.”

“Oh, no, absolutely not- here, I’ll help you with the books.”

“T-thank you, I was on my way to Professor Flitwick’s class, I borrowed these off him-“ she went full speed into a monologue about charms. She’d borrowed some books to study some advanced spell work, and well, she seemed to give Hermione a run for her money in her love for books. “I-I’m sorry, I’m awfully boring.”

“Not at all,” I smiled at her, putting down my pile on Flitwick’s desk. “It’s actually nice, refreshing.”

She smiled at me.

Fiona was a very quiet girl, a half blood. Her mother was a witch but had died when she was young and hadn’t told her father about it. He got a real shock when she got her letter and had asked her mothers brother just what on earth was going on. She said she believed her mother had done it on purpose, it would have been the type of thing she would have found hilarious. She was very intelligent, too, though. She took a lot of classes I didn’t, even history of magic, and was a Ravenclaw prefect. She hoped next year to be head girl. I had to admit, it was nice getting to know her. She spent a lot of time getting to know George, and as such ended up hanging out with Lee and I in the process. She had a wicked sense of humour hidden beneath the shyness, and I noticed, over the days, George started to look at her as though he was incredibly lucky she’d asked him.

Classes had ended by the time someone asked me to the ball. I was on my way back from tending to the unicorn, having to make sure she was plenty warm in this weather and well fed, and on my way to check on Madam Maxime’s horses when I was stopped. “Artemees.”

I had expected Loan, but instead I turned to find a rather tall, imposing Durmstrang boy I had never seen before in my life, staring down at me. He was… very handsome. He had a head of brown curls which were covered in snow, and very sharp features, coupled with the bluest eyes I had ever seen. “H-hello,” I choked out. How did he know my name?

“I am Elian,” he said. “You are…. Friend of ‘eermyowknee”

“Yes,” I said, even though it wasn’t a question.

“I am needing… a date to the ball.” He paused. Was he asking me? Or was he wanting to see if Hermione was free? I waited. “You want to go with me?”

I had no idea who he was at all, he could have been a jerk, but I said yes anyway. It turned out, he was very sweet. He was a friend of Krum and had been with him in the library while Hermione studied the day before and had noticed me sat by a window with a book on dragons which I must have read ten times already. He’d asked Krum if he knew who I was, and he’d asked Hermione. He was a good bit taller than me, and if it were somehow possible, I looked a lot smaller stood next to him. He was built extremely well.

He’d become interested because his family worked with dragons. It gave us something to talk about, I told him I was going to study next summer in Romania, and he suggested that we meet up while I was there. Elian was rather verbose once you got him talking, he would often stop and apologise for talking so much, but it was nice listening to him. 

“Isn’t he intimidating?” Fiona asked quietly.

“I guess he’s like a bear?” I suggested, leading her along the halls. I was going to introduce her to Summer and Cedric since George was busy with Fred and Lee having another go at cracking Bagman. “He looks scary but… he’s actually really warm,” I laughed.

“She looks too funny next to him,” Summer said loudly, hearing the end of the conversation. “Seriously, he could crush you in his hand.”

“He’s not going to crush me,” I said firmly. “At least, I hope not,” I smiled when Fiona laughed. “This is Fiona,” I motioned to the other two. “Summer, and of course you know, Cedric Diggory.”

“Don’t we have arithmancy together?” Cedric asked. “You’re always top of the class.”

Fiona blushed and smiled shyly at him.

“How did Fred take Elian?” Summer asked.

“How should I know?” I muttered. “I’ve barely seen him. George didn’t really say anything, though, when I introduced them. He actually looked kind of scared of him, if I’m honest,” I rubbed my neck. “It’s really none of his business.”

Summer sighed. “You should have asked Fred, before he asked Angelina.”

“Yes, and made everything much more awkward,” I muttered.

“So, you admit you wanted to ask him.”

“What? No! I didn’t say that,” I frowned a her, looking to Fiona and Cedric for support, but they were both occupied by some conversation which seemed to have Cedric in fits of laughter. 

“Admit you wanted to go with him.”

I wanted to deny it, I really did but… “Just as friends,” I muttered. “I thought it could fix the friendship.”

“Mmhmm,” she murmured, eyeing me up. “Just as friends.”

As it turned out, Fred did not take the news of me going with Elian very well. “He’s twice your size! And too old for you!”

“He’s a year older, Fred! So what?”

“He’s the enemy!”

“You said the same about Ced!”

“Yeah, well, he is too!”

“Will you two quit it!?” George snapped. “You can fight after the holidays, come on. Don’t ruin the ball, just go, have fun with your dates,” he stared at me. “Not too much fun, he’s right, he’s huge, he could-“

“George, we are not- you-“ I felt my cheeks warm up.

“I said nothing,” he said innocently. “You thought of that yourself.”

“You absolute git.”

I had never been the type of girl to do herself up and get ready. I was rather glad for Fiona, who as it turned out, was amazing with makeup. Hermione (surprisingly) and Ginny had helped me sneak Fiona and Summer into the Gryffindor girl’s dorms, so we could all get ready together. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia had taken over the sixth year’s room, and their laughter and giggles carried down the stairs a good bit.

It was nice, though. I had to admit I felt rather special being so done up and in a nice dress. It was a beautiful red colour, plain, though the back was open and there was a bow where it stopped, just above my tailbone. The lace sleeves had been slightly long on me when I’d originally tried it on, but I found that it fit me perfectly now. My chest had even grown, just a bit more, to fill it out better. I’d curled my hair and pinned it back with the dragon pin that Summer had given to me last Christmas.

“Fred is going to hate himself,” Summer said, grinning at me. I was too in awe of how Fiona had done my makeup to argue with her. Summer wore a cute periwinkle dress; the top was lace and covered in patterns of butterflies. I was rather shocked at how much skin you could see through the lace. The skirt was plain, and she’d put her long hair up into a rather elaborate up-do which I had no idea how she’d done.

Fiona, herself, wore a black gown, but it was stunning. She’d taken her glasses off and had done her makeup in a way which seemed to make her eyes stand out even more. The dress just showed off her height even more, and she was incredibly graceful, even in the heels which I still had problems with.

Still, the star of everyone seemed to be Hermione. No one knew she was going with Krum yet, but wow, she looked amazing. I was certain, that for all the girls jealous of her, there would be just as many boys jealous of him. 

Fiona, as it turned out, had a solution for being so unsteady in heels. She knew a charm for perfect balance and cast it on me and Summer who seemed to be wobbling around a lot. I felt instantly more confident now I wasn’t going to fall on my face, and as we came down to the common room, I paid Fred no glance. 

“F-Fiona,” George stuttered out.

“Careful,” she giggled. “You’ll have to pick your jaw up from the floor.” She took his arm and the pair of them left, laughing about a joke he just told her. I grinned at Hermione.

“Summer.”

“Neville!” She said happily, all but bounding to his side. “You l-look really handsome,” she said quietly.

“Y-you too.” He paused. “N-not handsome, I mean, I-“

“I know what you mean,” she grinned, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Thank you.”

They were a rather adorable couple. Hermione and I were both grinning at them as we followed them down. I tried not to laugh at Ron’s dress robes when I saw him, but it was hard. Poor guy looked ridiculous, and his date looked less than happy about it, too.

“Wow,” Harry said, as we got to his side. “Both of you look amazing.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, grinning when I saw Cedric and Cho. “I’m going to see Cedric then look for Elian, see you later,” I grinned, winking at Hermione. “Enjoy your bon-bon.”

“Oh, you’re awful,” she mumbled.

I just laughed, happily finding myself with Cedric and Cho. She looked beautiful. Cho was nice, though I had little in common with her. But I’d spoken to her a bit the past week. “You look really nice, Cho,” I smiled.

“You too, Artemis.”

“Yes,” a deep voice said. I jumped, turning and almost crashing into Elian’s firm chest. He let out a deep laugh, grabbing me before I could hurt myself on him. “You look perfect.”

I blushed deeply, staring up at him. No one had ever called me that before, beautiful I’d heard a few times, usually my family, Summer had said it a few times, but perfect? And for it to come from a guy who had asked me to a ball, it seemed to mean a lot more. “T-thank you,” I said quickly, taking his arm when he offered it to me. I said goodbye to Cedric and Cho and let Elian lead me into the hall. I’d never seen it decorated so beautifully. It was really shaping to be a perfect night; I was happy, I felt confident, and for the first time in what felt like months, I had no worries on my shoulders.

Elian was a much better dancer than I, and I had protested quite a bit when he’d just lifted me and put my feet on top of his own. I insisted I was too heavy, but he replied by just picking me up like I was nothing. “You are tiny, like a butterfly,” he paused, frowning. “Maybe more like a baby dragon in that colour.”

I laughed softly. A baby dragon. The Durmstrang dress robes were red too, so the pair of us were probably very hard to miss, but I confess, I noticed no one else. I lost all track of time, even long after we’d stopped dancing and instead turned to talking. His whole family were built like him, they preferred a hands-on approach for dealing with dragons than a magical one. He said his older brother was covered in so many burns he’d just stopped caring about them now. I didn’t know if it was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, trying to imagine him wrestling down a dragon made me laugh, though.

“What is it like? To be… triplet?”

I shrugged, swirling around the drink in the glass. It was warm in the hall and I’d been grateful for the drinks he’d fetched us while we took a breather. I didn’t know what kind of drink it was, but it was amazing. “If you asked me a year ago I could have told you a lot of happy things, but now I’m not so sure,” I admitted. “It’s supposed to be like having two automatic best friends, but my sister, Selene, I guess she’s going through some things, and she resents me for not being with her.”

“My mother has a twin,” he said deeply. “But her sister is a squib, I have never met her.”

“That must be hard on them,” I murmured, glancing around the room for George. He and Fiona were still dancing, though he looked to be whispering into her ear. She went into a fit of laughter and hit his arm. I smiled. “How do you like Hogwarts?”

“It is very… grey,” he said. I laughed. “The sky… the building….”

“When spring comes, you’ll see a lot more colours. Still a lot of rain, though,” I chuckled. “And during summer, there’s a nice spot by the lake that’s perfect for just enjoying the warm breeze. Have you been to Hogsmeade yet?”

“Yes, briefly, but it was so busy. I do not like crowds.”

I laughed. “So, you must really dislike this ball?”

“It is much better with proper company.”

I smiled warmly at him, letting him pull me back to my feet for more dancing. I caught sight of Neville and Summer. He was a very good dancer, she looked very happy and like she was having the time of her life. I smiled more. Things were falling together. I ignored Ron and Harry who seemed to be sulking, the former was glaring somewhat at Hermione and Krum. I had to admit, they were a good match.

When a slower song started, I half expected Elian to lead me away, but instead he pulled me closer to him, slowing his movements down. Cho and Cedric were nearby, her head was on his shoulder. My heart was beating so fast, I felt a flush in my cheeks—

And then, everything stopped.

Have you ever seen something that causes your entire world to crash down around you? 

Have you ever experienced something, which causes your reality to shatter, and rebuild into some distorted world that you no longer recognise?

I froze. My heart stopped and fell to my stomach. I couldn’t hear anything, there was the strangest ringing in my ears as I watched Fred and Angelina. They looked so good together, he was kissing the top of her head, a hand on the small of her back to pull her to him. My heart sprung up my throat, the impact into my brain seemingly starting everything with a kick. I had to get away, I had to get out of here. “I-I’m sorry, I can’t-“ I didn’t look at Elian, I just rushed off as quickly as I could, very thankful for Fiona’s charm.

Even so, as soon as I was outside in the cold air, I kicked my heels off and found a spot to sit down.

I needed to make sense of what just happened, but my thoughts were going so fast, and there was only one which was yelling loud enough to be heard. I felt sick. “Artemees?”

“Missy?”

Three voices.

I closed my eyes, somewhat wishing they wouldn’t see me and would just go. I was crying, and I didn’t want anyone to know why. I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t want—

Warm arms around me. Strong hands on my arm. Someone rubbing my back.

“Artemis,” Fiona said softly, hers were the arms around me. “I saw you run out. What happened?”

“I think I have an idea,” George murmured, he was the one rubbing my back.

“Artemees?” Elian asked, concern in his voice. “D-did I do something?”

I sniffed, shaking my head and looking at him. “It’s not you—you were perfect, absolutely lovely to me… it’s just, it’s me, and… I’m really sorry, Elian. I didn’t want to ruin your night. You can go and find someone else to dance with.”

“No,” he said, sitting beside me.

It made me cry more.

None of them made me talk or explain. George knew I would say it eventually if I needed to, either to him or to Charlie or even to Summer, but first I needed to make sense of it. But the last thing I needed was to be so in my head and thoughts. It made it worse.

Seeing Fred and Angelina together ruined the entire façade I’d put on for—well... I didn’t know how long. I couldn’t deny it any more, not to Summer, not to Hermione, not to Cedric, and not to myself. I did like Fred Weasley, I liked him a lot, and it was far too late because he hated me and found someone he looked perfect with. She and him were perfect together, she was beautiful and full figured, funny, intelligent—

I sobbed more, alarming Fiona because she jumped then held me tighter.

“I’m so sorry,” I said loudly. “You should leave me, go inside and enjoy-“

“Nonsense,” she said, pulling back and quickly conjuring up a handkerchief. If I wasn’t so distraught I would have taken time to admire her handy spell work. “Here,” she said, dabbing the tears from my cheeks and cleaning up what was probably a mess of makeup. “It was too hot in there anyway, and far too many people bumping into us.”

“Besides,” George carried on, sitting beside her. He was staring at me seriously, no laughter, no jokes, just concern. “You think I could enjoy myself knowing my best friend is a mess? Honestly, Artemis, for someone who is so intelligent, you can be incredibly slow.”

“Where have I heard that before,” I laughed weakly, rubbing my eyes. 

Elian was very sweet about it, he disappeared, and I thought he’d gotten bored, but then returned with drinks for all four of us. I think George started to like him a whole lot then, because I could see the appreciation in his eyes when he sat beside me and held my hand. I felt rotten, like I was leading him on, but Fred didn’t see me like that. Now I knew how I felt, I could work on getting over him, and perhaps, in time, come to like Elian a lot more. There was no reason not to even try it. I had to try it. He didn’t ask, though I certainly owed him an explanation. In time, perhaps I would tell him. But when I couldn’t even bring myself to tell George and Fiona. I gulped. 

Perhaps sensing I was about to have another breakdown, Elian quickly brought up a conversation topic about dragons. “I’m surprised she hasn’t exhausted every topic on them,” George joked. “With you and with Charlie- my brother,” he added for Elian to explain. “He works in Romania with them.”

“Ah, he is the one you mentioned,” Elian said to me.

But the conversation went away from that and moved onto school work, to George telling stories of times we’d gotten into trouble. I did notice how he left Fred’s name out, I also noticed how he looked at me a lot more during those stories, but I didn’t want to think too much on it. I didn’t want anyone to know, it felt like a dirty secret I had to hide from everyone.

Eventually, when it got late, McGonagall started ushering us all back to our common rooms. Elian escorted Fiona to the Ravenclaw tower since it was on the way to where the Durmstrang students stayed, and George returned with me. We were both silent, but he didn’t move from my side at all. “George,” I said quietly, trying to ignore Fred and Angelina kissing in the corner. “I don’t want to sleep alone.”

He didn’t say anything, but he nodded, leading me up to his dorm. Lee was already there, looking somewhat sulky. He didn’t say anything to me, but I heard him and George whispering. I wondered how this would work, but George simply seemed to have everything under control. He really did remind me of Felix, this was exactly what he would have done. I missed him so much. So very much. 

“Here,” George said, handing me one of his shirts and a pair of his pyjama bottoms. “Unless you want to sleep in that dress or go to your room to change.”

I wasn’t shy about changing in front of them, even if they both turned away. I suppose at any other time I may have been, but it was weird, how numb I felt now. I didn’t feel much of anything, there was white noise mostly in my head. I was trying not to think, because every time I did, I thought of things I absolutely shouldn’t. I did everything one step at a time, focusing intently on each step.

“You don’t mind sharing, do you?” He asked, motioning to the bed. “Don’t worry, I asked Fiona.”

I laughed weakly. “You knew…?”

“Of course, I did,” he smiled, sitting on the bed and patting one side of it. It was small, but luckily, I was small enough to be able to fit beside him under the covers. “This is just like when Ginny has nightmares and comes and sleeps with me,” he said. “Nothing else.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I knew Lee was listening, but I didn’t very much care. I had to say it out loud, it was bursting inside of me, making it harder to breathe. It needed to be said, it almost demanded it. “I think I like Fred, Georgie.”

George’s reply was calm and smooth, no surprise at all. I wasn’t surprised at that. “I think so too, Mis.”


	15. Zeus

Turning seventeen was not as great as I thought it would have been. 

After the Yule Ball, I had avoided Fred entirely, even taking to sitting with the seventh years for meals or skipping them entirely. I managed to get to breakfast before he even came down most mornings. George didn’t like me skipping, and as such I found myself being taken to the kitchens more than ever. It was strange, it didn’t hurt any more, I just felt nothing. No sadness, no anger, no jealousy. I could watch him and Angelina locking lips in the common room and I’d feel nothing.

The flip side was I didn’t really feel happy either. I was quiet and tried to avoid everyone, especially Summer and Fred. I hadn’t seen her at all since the ball, being very careful to stay away from her. I spent a lot of time with Hagrid, or just sitting with the unicorn. Fiona joined me sometimes, enjoying the peace and quiet to read there. Elian sometimes came down, but he could never get too close and found little enjoyment in sitting with two quiet girls. I felt awful, he was trying to get me to talk, but I just didn’t want to. I knew it was awfully silly to get so upset over this, but here I was.

I missed Felix and Selene, I missed my mum, and my dad. I wanted to go home desperately, spend my birthday with them. It would be the first year I wasn’t with them, and it added to the weight that was permanently on my shoulders. I knew I should talk to someone, but I couldn’t find the words. I’d tried writing to Felix and Selene about it, but I had just instead sent their birthday cards and gifts with a fake happy sounding message inside. 

Fiona’s company was the one I enjoyed most. She was quiet, she didn’t try and get me to talk about anything, she didn’t try and force me to eat, and she didn’t give me sympathetic looks of pity. The ones which George sometimes gave me whenever I saw Fred and Angelina holding hands. I knew isolating myself was the wrong thing to do, maybe Summer and Hermione would be able to get through to me, but honestly, I felt ashamed. As if I had some awful, dirty, dark secret that must absolutely be hidden. I thought, briefly, of telling Cedric, but he had so much on his plate with the second task, and he was always so happy with Cho. I didn’t want to ruin that.

It was December 31 st , and I was walking through the grounds. It was lunch time. I’d spent the morning with Hagrid, trying to avoid everyone. I didn’t much feel like celebrating. I should have known I wouldn’t get away with it, though. People would find me eventually. Most of Hogwarts was covered in thick snow, it was a good excuse to bundle up and disappear into oversized sweaters and huge scarves. Somehow it made me feel more present, more like I was existing.

I had stopped at the Quidditch pitch, sitting in the stands and staring down at where the dragons had once been. No one was here. It was quiet. Still. If any life existed, it did not dwell here. I knew that this melancholy was fruitless, that I should deal with it, get over it as they say, but I couldn’t seem to shake it. I didn’t want to feel so sorry for myself, it was pathetic, but the more I thought about that, the more I gave in. I felt pathetic, this was only fitting for me. 

I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting there when I heard footsteps, voices, and a giggle. Someone tripped and there was an ‘ow!’ followed by a loud ‘shh’. I fidgeted, forming my face into what I hoped was an acceptable smile.

“Summer, maybe she just wants to be alone,” I recognised George’s voice.

“It’s her birthday, George.”

“More reason to let her be, I think,” Fiona added.

“She’s avoiding me,” Summer said again. I felt guilty. I’d hoped she wouldn’t notice, that she’d be so happy focusing on Neville she’d not think about me for a moment. “And she’s avoiding Ced, he’s really worried.”

My heart twinged, and I sighed, feeling my breath come out in shakes. I didn’t want to cause him to worry, I didn’t want anyone to worry about me; I just… wanted to be alone. I didn’t know how to deal with this, I was trying to figure it out, to go through it in my head and piece by piece find an answer, but the more I tired the more nothing I felt. 

“Artemis!” Summer said happily when they finally broke into the air. She bounded down the stairs almost tripping on the ice, before finding the seat near me. “Happy birthday!”

“T-thank you,” I said, grinning at her.

George gave me an apologetic smile, sitting one side of her. Fiona took the seat the other side of me. “Fred wanted to come-“ my stomach curled up. “I talked him out of it.”

“Thanks.”

Summer looked between us. “Did you have another argument with him?” she muttered, standing up. “I’ve had enough, I’m going to-“

“Summer, no, please,” I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her down. “Please, he’s not worth it.”

“When will you open your eyes?!” she half yelled at me. 

“Sum, come on,” George said, trying to calm her. 

“No! She needs to admit how she feels about him, I can’t keep watching them fight-“

“What do you want me to say, Summer?” I said, jumping to my feet. Fiona put her hands on my shoulders, trying to keep me from doing anything rash. “You want me to admit I have feelings for Fred Weasley, my best friend? That when I saw him and his perfect girlfriend at the ball, I realised how I felt, and it broke my heart into pieces?!” Her face froze. “You want me to admit t-that- oh!” I sniffed, rubbing my eyes. “I thought I was done c-crying over this.”

“Hey,” Fiona said gently, hugging me tightly. “You’ve just been bottling it up.”

“Mis, I’m sorry, I had no idea-“ Summer whispered, coming closer. “I’m really sorry.” She turned to George. “Did you know?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “She left the ball early, Fiona saw her rush out, I realised what she’d seen… I had an idea she liked him, Hermione kind of helped me twig it,” he sighed. “She told me that evening.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I sighed, sitting back down. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “If I say it, it makes it real and I don’t want it to be real. You know what a sick joke this is, don’t you? I felt nothing for Cedric, the boy who liked me, was kind to me, makes me laugh… but apparently I like my… best friend instead, the one I can’t have, the one who hates me-“

“He doesn’t hate you,” George said. “He’s just being an idiot.”

I wanted to disagree. Fred did hate me, or at least he was doing a very good job of acting like he did. “I don’t want it to be real, Summer, I don’t want to like him, not like this—not when all we do is fight and argue… I can’t even look at him.”

I had a similar conversation with Cedric, though with him there was less yelling. Fiona, George, and Summer had gone to the kitchens to try and scrounge up some lunch since I’d missed it, and I had gone back down to the unicorn. Cedric had found me there, a bright smile on his face which, when he saw me, turned serious. “Summer said I’d find you here.”

“I bet she did,” I said weakly, leaving the unicorns side so I could sit near Cedric. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“You have a way with her.”

There was more silence.

“How are you and Cho?”

“Good,” he said. “Really good—Mis, you don’t have to pretend to be okay, you know? Summer told me.”

“It wasn’t her place,” I mumbled.

“I know, but, she’s really worried. She doesn’t know what to do or say, she thought maybe I could get through to you…” he ran his fingers through his hair. “I knew you liked him.”

“What?”

“Last year,” he admitted. “I was going to ask you to Hogsmeade in Herbology, but the way you were with Fred… I was certain you liked him then. I thought for sure you would turn me down because of it.” I gave him a curious look; really? Last year? “No one makes you smile like him, Mis, or used to anyway. I haven’t seen you smile properly this entire year. Even George, I know you’re close to him, too, but-“

“But he’s like a brother to me, I know,” I sighed, bringing my knees to my chest. “I know I need to snap out of this, Ced, but I don’t know how. I’m trying to figure it out in my head, but… I feel so tired. There’s all these what if’s. What if I had realised earlier, what if I had gotten to him before Angelina? But, they’re so good together. They look really good, she makes him smile….”

“You make him smile too,” he countered. “A lot, the pair of you were always grinning and laughing together.” I didn’t reply. “Angelina is pretty, but if he picks girls based on how they look—not that you aren’t pretty, Arte,” he added. I gave him a small smile. “But if he picked her based purely on that, then maybe you’re better without him.”

“I don’t think Fred’s shallow,” I whispered.

“But he hurt you to show off in front of her, he doesn’t deserve this from you,” he squeezed my arm gently. “Come on, you’re seventeen! You can do magic outside of school now, you can take the apparating lessons with me soon!”

I wanted to laugh, I wanted to make a joke, just like we used to but… “Ced,” I whispered as he stood up. 

“Yeah?” he asked, offering me his hand. I could vaguely hear the others returning. Summer’s laughter was loud and wild. 

“What am I supposed to do?”

He gave me a sympathetic look, one which said he had no clue. After all, he and I hadn’t been heartbroken over each other. But, I did know someone who had. Charlie. He’d been terribly upset over Anita, and he still cared for her; I had seen it myself. Maybe he’d know the answer, what I should do to work this stupor off.

So that was what I did. My new years day was spent in the owlery, penning him a very long letter. I had written and rewritten it so much, until I had decided just to be honest, to admit I liked Fred and I didn’t know what to do. I’d tried to put it into a story, phrase it as though it was someone else, but I really couldn’t.

Fiona, as it turned out, was a good study partner. She was as intelligent as Hermione, but less strict. She seemed to have a good effect on Hermione, too, though, because when the three of us and Summer were busy in the library a few days before term re-started, she didn’t mind the conversation often distracting us.

It had fallen silent, though, when George had come over. Fred in-tow. I noticed Angelina lingering, and Lee giving her a somewhat disgusted look. I didn’t want to know what had happened there. George gave me another apologetic look, obviously he’d tried to get Fred to stay away, but…. 

Summer’s face went stony and she stared down at her book. After a few moments of silence, she stood up and announced she needed Neville’s help and left. I knew she was just trying not to snap at Fred and I was thankful for it, but it was obvious he noticed something.

“Fiona,” George said quickly. “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Sure,” she smiled. He took her off, leaving Fred to stand at the table. Hermione shifted, looking a little awkward.

“Hey.”

He as talking to me. “Hey,” I said back, forcing my voice to stay even. I didn’t look at him, but I could see his hands were in his pockets.

“I haven’t seen you around much. George said you left the ball early,you didn’t feel well.”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“Artemis, are you avoiding me?”

I couldn’t help it. I knew Madam Pince was going to chuck us both out, probably for life, but—“Of course I am, Fred, why on earth wouldn’t I?” I snapped, slamming my book shut. Hermione jumped. “You have been awful to me for most of the term, maybe I don’t want to be near that anymore.”

“I stopped!”

“But maybe it’s too little, too late, Fred!” I said, now standing up and pushing all my books into my bag. “Maybe the damage is done! Maybe I just look at you and think of all the things you’ve said just to make yourself seem bigger in front of your stupid girlfriend.”

“Don’t insult her.”

I scoffed. “Didn’t you call me stupid a few months ago? So, it’s okay for you to say it to me, but I can’t say it about her? No, you’re right, this isn’t Angelina’s fault at all,” I muttered. I heard Madam Pince tut and her chair push out. We only had a moment longer. “This is your fault! I don’t want to be your friend any more, Fred Weasley! Stay away from me!” I threw my bag over my shoulder and snatched up my last book, storming right past him and Madam Pince, muttering to her that I was on my way out anyway and she didn’t need to say anything.

I regretted snapping at him almost instantly.

At least anger was an emotion, even if it wasn’t a positive one.

But it was considerably easier to avoid him after that because he seemed to stay away from me. Charlie’s reply held little help, too. He said he already knew I liked Fred (why had I been the last to know this?), but he had no idea how to get over him, because he had never gotten over Anita. He’d just simply learned to push the feelings aside and carry on with life.

So that was what I tried to do.

I don’t know how well I succeeded, not very well I don’t think, because Cedric and Cho, who I was hanging out with more than ever, often stared at me the way one would an injured kitten, that is to say, as if I was delicate and weak, and that every caution needed to be shown around me. I didn’t laugh much, I was irritable and slept more than ever. At least my appetite was back, that was a good thing.

Two weeks into term, something happened which saved me from going completely mad. The snow on the ground was thinner than it had been, but there was still an awful bite in the air. The second task would happen soon, and I hoped dearly, that all the champions would at least me warm. This weather was awful, they could get sick. I had already had breakfast, a bowl of porridge and some toast, before I’d hurried down to Hagrid’s. I’d expected him to keep me only a few moments, but to my surprise, he was waiting outside for me, with Fang. He had the strangest look on his face, one of excitement and expectation.

“Hagrid?”

“I have something to show you, something I think you’re going to appreciate.”

I hoped, dearly, it was not a repeat of the dragon egg. And, when he started to lead me into the forest, I was very glad for it. He gave nothing away, just going on about how lucky the pair of us were, about how much of a good opportunity this was. We walked for about ten minutes before he stopped at a clearing near a lake in the forest. I knew this spot, the Thestrals and Unicorns often grazed here in the spring.

There was a crate there with an open top, I could see it was magically heated.

“Hagrid?”

“Go an’ look!”

Feeling rather apprehensive, I approached the crate and looked down inside. There was straw, a lot of it, and the strangest looking creature. I could have mistaken it for an Eagle from it’s face and wings, but it’s body was very lion like. I had never seen something like it before, but I knew what it was instantly. “Hagrid-“ I looked up at him. “Is this…?”

“Yes!” he came over now, trying to keep his voice quiet. It was so tiny, its eyes not even open yet, and it turned its head up to the voices. “A Griffin chick.”

“B-but how? I thought they were almost extinct,” I whispered. I’d read about them, but there wasn’t much to read. Ancient Witches and Wizards in the dark ages had hunted them for sport, and, because their eggs supposedly contained gold, they had been a prize find back then. England was one of the few places where they had dwelled, and because of it, very few existed any more. 

“A friend o’ mine found ‘im, just lying there. Reckons its mother abandoned it.”

“No!” I frowned, staring down. “Is he sick?”

“I don’t think so, I checked him as much as I could, my friend did too—nothing wrong with ‘im I say, it must have been an accident or summat.”

“But that’s awful, without its mother, won’t he--?”

“Die, ye,” he frowned. “But… we can give it a try, can’t we? Lookin’ after ‘im, I mean.”

And that was how I became somewhat of a surrogate mother to a Griffin chick. Hagrid had sworn me to secrecy about it, though he said the headmaster and the other professors already knew about it, anyway. Snape was making a potion for it to try and get its strength back, he seemed to resent it. He’d taught me how to brew it, when I had insisted on it, deciding it would be easier if I could do it. He seemed to approve of that, at least.

For the first few days, I spent almost no time away from him. Hagrid and I had both decided we wouldn’t name him yet, we weren’t sure if he would even survive long enough. I got all the books I could find, focusing on trying to find ways to help him and look after him. Hagrid reached out to people he knew, even Charlie to see if even he knew anything or anyone. He got some replies, but they were mostly just letters of curiosity, people who wanted to see it, though he said he still had a friend who hadn’t replied yet; one he was positive would know something. 

During the night, Hagrid kept him inside his hut to protect him. He lived mostly in the forest, we were both worried that the loud noises of students during the day would startle him too much. Without his eyesight, he was sensitive to noises. He came to recognise both of our voices quickly. 

It was a week before his eyes opened. It was then we knew he was doing well. He’d gained weight and grown and was now vocal about the things he wanted. It was the most fulfilling thing I had done my entire life. It took so much energy I had no time to feel bad for myself, I even forgot about avoiding Fred and skipping meals. My friends questioned what was going on, but I think they were mostly happy I was doing something, that I was smiling and laughing again.

“It must be a miracle,” I said to Cedric one day. Hagrid had finally let me tell my friends about the chick; each of them had been shocked, but only a few of them had understood just how important this was. “You should see him,” I said. “He’s so big now, you’d never believe he was so tiny and weak-“ I smiled hugely at him. “We’re going to name him in afew days, I have some ideas.”

Cedric laughed. “They’re really rare, no? A lot of people have looked for the wild Griffin’s left but never found them.”

I nodded. “They’re really elusive, they tend to live alone. We don’t really know much about them—this is so important, we can study him, maybe find a way to populate them again. Hagrid is happier that Hogwarts is going to have a Griffin than the prospect of learning about it, I have to admit, it’s rather amazing.”

Hagrid had let me pick the name, deciding that I’d done so much work looking after him, and that he seemed to like me most, that it was only fitting. I picked the name Zeus, Hagrid liked it, and the Griffin seemed to as well, because when I called him by it, he came instantly, letting out a small cry. Griffin’s were strange creatures, a bit like Hippogriffs really, but a lion’s body instead of a horse. Hopefully they would have similar diets when it was old enough to eat proper food, though Hagrid preferred to let the creatures hunt for themselves. That was where the problem would be; in the wild, Lions would learn how to hunt from their adults. Hippogriffs were the same, their young learned hunting from the elder ones. Of course, Zeus couldn’t do that. If we couldn’t get him to learn, he was going to be dependant on us for food for the rest of his life, which would mean that if it ever came to it, he wouldn’t be able to be released.

For now, though, we mostly focused on getting him to gain weight and grow. Zeus was playful, though often forgot he had claws. I spent just as much time with Madam Pomfrey, getting various scratches healed up in the evenings before bed. She scolded me every time, and had announced, one evening, that some of the cuts were going to start scarring since they kept getting reopened. I didn’t mind, it seemed such a small price to pay to look after such a beautiful, rare creature.

As the second task loomed, I felt much more like my old self again. Summer was still supporting Fleur, and I was still supporting Cedric and Harry. Elian, who had seen Zeus now, was supporting Krum. He and I had decided to be just friends, after I had explained about Fred to him. He seemed upset to begin with but had then taken Summer’s method of disliking Fred. It was funny, Fred seemed so scared of him, and whenever he saw me with Elian, he would turn about and go the other way. 

I missed George so much, but he was spending more time with Fred trying to get the money off Bagman. Maybe, at some point, I’d be able to hang out with him again and Fred’s presence wouldn’t bother me. I was okay until I saw him, then it was like all I could notice were the things I liked about him; things I had never paid attention to before. The way he laughed so hard when something was so funny, that it seemed as if time would stop, or the way he grinned. It was his own smile, a special smile, one which no one else, not even George, could ever hope to have. I liked his smile. I liked how he would put his fingers in his hair when he was stressed, the way he would often go cross eyed when concentrating. I liked his sense of humour, I liked how brave he was, how unapologetically himself he was. It was harder, when he was with Angelina. She and I hadn’t spoken much, just a few hello’s in our dorm. She looked guilty, though, whenever we spoke. I guess she hadn’t meant to ruin a friendship, but I guessed Cedric was right, if he’d put me down just to impress her, it said more about Fred than anyone else.

The second task was going to take place in the lake. Brilliant. Summer and Elian were stood firmly either side of me, the former knowing how terrified I was of drowning, so obviously I didn’t want to fall in. The twins were betting again, and Fiona was with George. Cho was nowhere to be seen, neither was Hermione or Ron, so Harry had come down to the lake with Summer, Neville, and I. Elian had already been there with Krum, who seemed to be looking for Hermione.

“Is that Gillyweed?” I asked Neville when I saw him.

“Y-yeah.”

“That’s ingenious,” I murmured. “Harry can’t do a bubblehead charm, can he? And animal transfiguration would be difficult,” I nodded. “That’s really good.”

“Of course, it is,” Summer said, holding his hand tightly. He blushed furiously. “Neville suggested it.”

It was hard, waiting for the champions to return. While they were underwater, Dumbledore had explained that they were searching for an important person who had been put into an enchanted sleep and placed in the protection of the merpeople in the lake. That explained the absence of Cho, Ron, and Hermione at least.

I was thankful when Cedric appeared with Cho but carried on staring anxiously at the water. Krum appeared soon. But no Harry. “Where is he?”

“He’ll be fine,” Summer murmured.

I could hear Neville mumbling to himself, wondering if he’d messed up with the Gillyweed. I wanted to reprimand him, I had recognised it—there was no doubt what it was, but, at that point, two heads appeared on the surface, neither of them belonging to Harry. “Oh, that’s Ron!”

“And that must be Fleur’s sister,” Summer murmured, watching as Elian went to speak to Krum. “Is he okay?”

I shook my head. “He’s fine,” I replied absently, sighing in relief when Harry finally appeared, being pulled out and wrapped up warm. “I think I hurt him, but he won’t admit it. You should talk to him more, you’d really like him.”

She snorted. “And what would we bond over?”

“Your mutual dislike of the other twin.”

That was how I’d taken to talking about him. The other twin. It felt awful calling him that, like I was denying his individuality but… but it hurt less to do that. If I thought of him less as Fred, I found I could concentrate on other things easier.

There was another party in the common room that evening, but I was not in the mood for it and simply retired early. I wasn’t tired, so instead I just decided to read. I’d found every book which mentioned Griffin’s in the school, and Charlie had been kind enough to send me some which had belonged to a friend of his who was very interested in near extinct beasts. He’d put me in contact with her, and she really wanted to see Zeus. I couldn’t blame her, but I told her for now, we were just keeping it quiet. He was rare, and we not only wanted to protect him, but there was no telling how this was going to go. While it was true that he was growing really well away from his mother, there was still the case of whether he would learn to hunt, learn to look after himself… whether the other creatures in the forest would tolerate him, or, whether he would tolerate them. I felt like a worried mother, nervous, on the edge of her seat, wanting to rush over every time her baby boy got a small cut or bruise. Between the unicorn and Zeus, I had little to no free time. Not that I was complaining; I liked it like this, it meant little time to think.

Like I was now.

I wanted to talk to Fred about Zeus.

I hated that the most.

I had realised, the past few weeks, that I had always wanted to tell Fred everything because of how I felt. Every time something good happened, it was him I wanted to go to. Every time I felt bad, I wanted to go to him, have him cheer me up. Had I always liked him? That was why it didn’t work with Cedric, wasn’t it? Because Cedric wasn’t Fred. My eyes closed, and I let out a deep sigh. I was in bad, deep. 

“Artemis,” I muttered, staring up at the canopy of my bed. “How are you going to get yourself out of this mess?”


	16. Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter than previous chapters, ;u; sorry

By the end of March everything felt normal again. Well, a normal that didn’t include Fred. I no longer avoided him, and he I, but instead we acted as though the other didn’t exist. George tried to get us to makeup, though neither of us wanted to. That was a lie. I did want to, I still liked him. I liked him a lot. Getting over him wasn’t as easy as I had first thought it would be, but even if I tried to focus on the fact that he’d hurt me, nothing seemed to work. Fred, meanwhile, had decided I was a traitor. It was just another reason for me to be hurt. He yelled at George and Hermione in the common room one evening when they were trying to get him to make the first move, I had walked in just in time to hear him shout that if I cared so much I would be helping Harry prepare, and not Cedric. Where he got that logic from, I had no idea, but it made everything worse. Not just with him. Overnight, most of the other Gryffindors started treating me differently. Harry tried to get them to stop, as he said, he didn’t mind if I was helping Cedric and not him, he had his own help from his friends. It didn’t work though.

Summer was livid. She’d hexed Fred on the first Friday of March, and in turn he’d jinxed her. Both had ended up in the hospital wing, both with detentions and a very furious McGonagall lecturing them about fighting in the hallways. She put it down to rivalry between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. If anything, it made me more resolute in my need to stay away from Fred. Even if she had attacked him first….

Fiona was trying desperately to stay out of it; as George’s now girlfriend, she really wanted to be on Fred’s good side. But after she’d run after me after some Gryffindor’s had pranked me badly in the hallway before potions, she surprised everyone by giving Fred a good talking to. Who knew she had it in her? He calmed down after that, taking his anger out elsewhere. 

“I don’t even know if he knows what he’s angry at,” George sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I don’t even know what he’s angry at.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it,” Summer sniffed, a furious rage. “He’s angry because he doesn’t like that we’re telling him he’s a bad person. He hates that we’re right.”

Somehow, I didn’t think that was it. “I think he’s just upset it looks like you’re taking my side instead of his.”

“Well, I am,” Summer said firmly. “After some of the things he said….”

“I still don’t understand why he said them,” Fiona said gently. “From what I’ve heard…” she looked at me painfully. “You and he were really close. What actually changed?”

I shrugged, picking at a blade of grass. It was a nice spring day, and we were studying near the Unicorn who was fit to burst. Zeus was napping in the sun nearby, having grown twice as much in such a short time. He still stayed with Hagrid overnight, but we were trying to introduce him to the Hippogriffs, see if he could stay with them and learn from them. “I would say Angelina, but… wasn’t it different over summer, too?” I stared at George. “He and I argued a lot at the Burrow.”

“It was tenser, yeah,” he sighed. “But it wasn’t as bad as this, and he wasn’t cruel to you then. You both just argued. He nagged you, you would snap, he would snap back…”

“You know I think he likes Mis,” Summer said quietly.

“Oh, don’t start this again,” I muttered.

“I think so! He just doesn’t realise it, and it scares him so he’s pushing you-“

“If he liked me, Summer, he wouldn’t be dating Angelina. He’s liked her for years,” I snorted, standing up and brushing some grass off myself. I was tired of talking about Fred, I had accepted that our friendship was broken, that it was going to take something huge to happen for it to ever be repaired. I left the three of them talking to check on Zeus. He was such a sweet creature, and of course, adult Griffin’s could be very dangerous but, he was so gentle now, especially to Hagrid and me, I couldn’t imagine him growing up to be ill-tempered. The friend of Charlie’s had written to me again recently, to tell me she was following up on some leads of some Griffin experts in England, and she’d heard rumours of some prides of wild Griffin’s around that she wanted to follow up on. I hadn’t heard anything since, but it was still something to hope for.

Classes started getting harder, too, for our end of year exams. Cedric was always very smug, since he didn’t need to sit them this year. I think Snape somewhat resented him for it, because he seemed to mark him harsher than the rest of us during class. Cedric didn’t really mind, he was as cheerful as always. In fact, maybe more so. I valued time with him, often with Cho, because neither of them spokes about Fred. He and I just studied a lot, or the three of us spoke about Quidditch next year, Cedric often worrying about the state the Quidditch pitch was going to be in after the final task.

I didn’t even want to think about that. Imagining Harry and Cedric having to duel in the maze? And that was just if they even got through some of the other things there. I knew about the Sphinx, but I was sworn to secrecy on that. It wasn’t really something I could prepare them for, though, they just had to use their whit. I did help Cedric prepare, mostly the pair of us picked out spells we had learned, and he practiced them. Anything that might seem useful. Luckily, he was incredibly talented. If I had to bet on the winner, it would have been Cedric. Of course, the others were talented, too, but I just knew it somehow, Cedric would win it.

Betting on him, however, was out of the question. I didn’t want to jinx the fact Harry had gotten through safe to this point. In fact, the most danger he’d been in, had been with an altercation between Mr. Crouch and Krum, or something. I heard about it in passing from Hagrid, who had warned me from going into the forest alone recently.

I couldn’t explain what it was, but something in the air was different as we entered the end of May. There was no relief when exams were finally over. I put it down to the looming task, but, even then… the teachers were acting odd, I noticed their gazes lingering on Harry more than usual. When I asked Hagrid about it, he’d told me it was nothing; they were just worried, he was young, and this task was probably the most dangerous. I wasn’t sure if I believed him. The most peculiar part was when I received a letter from Anita. It seemed like a nonsense letter, to begin with, she’d asked me about some of the things Selene liked (to which I had laughed, it seemed the pair of them had been writing to each other a lot), but at the end told me to keep Summer closer to me than ever. When I had asked her about it, she’d just said things at home were tenser, and she was worried about their father. Now, Anita loved her family very much, but to hear her worry about her father meant something more. She despised him, according to Summer when I’d asked her, even she found it odd that her elder sister would worry about him. If something was going on at home, Summer had no idea.

Elian enjoyed Hogwarts a lot more now there was colour around us, though, he wasn’t too sure of the weather still. Some days it was overly warm, especially for him coming from the North, and other times it would be cold enough to have to put on sweaters and coats. He said he wouldn’t have minded if it had been too hot, or too cold, he’d just rather it was one or another. I agreed, the abruptly changing weather had caused me to visit Madam Pomfrey for a pepper up potion when I had gotten sick.

The night before the third task, the Gryffindor common room was mostly empty. I ignored all the lingering glances I got, and just sat at the fire with Hermione and Harry. Ron was at the table talking with Ginny about how odd the twins had been, worried they were involved in something illegal, I wondered if I should tell them it wasn’t anything like that; it was just the stuff with Bagman was getting rather intense. I think they’d both pretty much given up, though, because when I asked George about it he’d just sighed and shrugged.

“Nervous, Harry?” I asked him.

“A little,” he admitted. 

“We tried finding as many spells as possible,” Hermione whispered, clutching her book. “Some were advanced, so we didn’t make much ground on them.”

“If it makes you feel better, a lot of the ones Cedric went over were more basic ones,” I tried to give him a reassuring smile. He didn’t look too reassured, and indeed in the morning, when I finally saw him (with Mrs. Weasley and Bill) he looked rather sick.

That morning, Fred and I had our worst argument since the outburst in the library. We’d been neutral since then, barely even saying one word. But George was trying to get me to bet on someone to win, and when Fred had just said I wouldn’t bet on Cedric because I didn’t want to prove him right, I had snapped, yelled at him, and then bet on Harry. Perhaps it was petty, because he yelled at me more after that. I just left him, trailing off to find Cedric and Cho. 

Cho was nervous about the task and kept fussing him. Every time she did, Cedric’s mother would smile warmly. Cedric’s parents were lovely people, I could really see where he got his good looks from, and his warm personality. “I should go,” I said quietly to Cedric. “I need to check on the Unicorn before the task,” I checked my watch. “She could give birth at any time.”

We stared at each other, then, he hugged me tightly. “Thanks for all the help so far.”

I squeezed him back tightly. “You’re going to do brilliantly, Ced,” I beamed up at him. “Good luck, okay? But not too much, I bet on Harry-“ he laughed. “Oh, go ahead and win it, Ced.”

“I’ll do just that,” he grinned.

If I had known then that it would be the last time Cedric would ever smile at me, I would have cracked a joke or two, made him laugh, hugged him a little longer. Absolutely anything. Instead, we said goodbye and I went down to Hagrid’s. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very off the entire day. So much so, that by the time evening came around, I was a nervous wreck.

Fiona tried hard to calm me down, but when we were shoved into bleachers to watch the task (or what could be watched of it), I just gripped her hand tightly out of nerves. George was on her side, and, to my surprise, Fred was on my other. When we both realised we’d gotten stuck together, we looked away from each other defiantly. Bill seemed to find this funny and just gave me a grin.

“Arte,” Fiona sighed, grabbing my hands. “Please stop, you’re going to hurt yourself if you keep biting you fingers.”

“I can’t help it,” I said, feeling stressed. “Anything could be happening in there. I feel sick.”

“Everyone is going to be okay,” George smiled.

“You don’t know that.”

They both sighed at me and I went back to sitting in silence, worrying endlessly. I glanced at Fred, wishing somehow that he was going to forget everything and just crack a joke, make me laugh, hold my hand—anything to distract me or cheer me up. But it never came, he looked straight ahead.

Hours and hours went by before _it_ happened. Bill and I conversed about the Griffin for a bit, then about Charlie. I turned around to speak with Ginny a few times, too. Neville was with Summer, who was looking forlorn that Fleur had to retire (to which George had loudly said she should have bet on Cedric or Harry. She hit him over the head for this, though gently). When Krum returned, it seemed to dawn on everyone pretty that we were going to have a Hogwarts champion. The question was, Cedric, or Harry?

When Harry appeared with Cedric some time after that, clutching to the cup, cheers and applause erupted loudly around the stadium. I didn’t join in, something… wasn’t right. Why was Cedric lying down? Why were they together?

And then, Fleur screamed.

One by one it seemed to dawn on people what was going on, but by then I was already pushing through people to get to the front. I heard Fudge whisper furiously to someone, keep people in their seats, I heard Harry crying—‘he asked me to bring his body back’, then I heard Mr. Diggory shouting ‘that’s my boy!’, and Mrs. Diggory crying, and Cho’s scream—I didn’t hear my own. I wasn’t sure if I did anything but stare at his body. I wanted to go closer, I wanted to nudge him, shake him, make a joke, beg him to wake up. Tell him I was wrong for betting on Harry, tell him that he’d been my number one choice the entire time. 

But I couldn’t.

I was rooted to the spot, my heart beating wildly in my ears and tears threatening to spill out.

“Artemis,” Fiona’s voice? Summers?

I didn’t respond when they called my name, when they tried to drag me away I did nothing. I stayed firmly in the spot. Bill tried, standing in front of me to block my view, but I wouldn’t move. I couldn’t. 

Then, reality kicked in. That funny little thing, the thing which had messed up so much recently—

“Cedric!” I pushed past Bill, trying to get to him. “Cedric-“ but strong arms caught me from behind. I didn’t know who—they smelled like peppermint, that was all I knew. “Let me go!” They didn’t. They dragged me away, I let them. I didn’t know why. Not then, but whoever had hold of me, I knew they were someone I should be with, someone who would stop this—could they stop it?

How was it possible that Cedric Diggory was dead?

It didn’t seem as if the world should still be spinning after something like that. Surely it should have stopped? I heard McGonagall’s voice, ushering us all to our common rooms. I let whoever have hold of me drag me alone.

“Mis?”

Fred.

I looked up at him, blinking furiously. I didn’t want to cry, but more than anything, I didn’t want to keep up this foolish argument with Fred anymore. I didn’t care about anything which had happened between us recently, I clung to him, burying my face into his chest. He said nothing, just held me there. I heard Mrs. Weasley asking how I was, George was rubbing my back, Ginny had my hand. There was more worry from someone, asking me if I needed anything. Answers. I needed answers, how, why, who? How, again. Why.

Who.

I asked these questions a lot, to anyone I could get hold of. McGonagall was first, she’d given me a sympathetic stare and suggested I sleep. I didn’t want to sleep. I only let go of Fred when Mrs. Weasley hugged me. When I wouldn’t settle, they took me up to the hospital wing. I couldn’t tell you anything else that happened that night, I was in such a daze from everything. I wanted to go to Harry’s side, I wanted to make sure he was okay, but…

Madam Pomfrey mostly stopped me, though Dumbledore told us all not to question Harry, anyway. I did little that night but worry about everything and everyone. I heard yelling between Fudge and McGonagall, Snape was there—Dumbledore too, at some point.

Fred stood beside me the entire time.

********

Fred Weasley was mad at himself.

For the past few months, all he’d wanted to do was apologise to Artemis for saying those cruel things to her so often. Yet, whenever he saw her, he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t understand why his reaction was to be cruel to her, make her hate him more, make himself seem as though he hated her. It couldn’t have been further from the truth, he missed her deeply. No one laughed as hard at his jokes as she did, not even Angelina, not even George. He’d started to hate himself for how he was to her, maybe he was just an awful person.

But those feelings had gone when he’d seen her in trouble. When he’d seen her panic, when he saw on her face how her heart broke. The pain she was in. He worried for her, stayed by her side. Grateful, when she didn’t push him away out of anger or hate for how he’d been. Instead she clung to him. He’d been awful to her, so awful.

But why?

He thought, perhaps, when she was herself again, she’d push him away once more. But it never happened. She stuck to his side. He knew Angelina didn’t like it much, but he didn’t care at all. She wasn’t the one who had just lost her best friend, she wasn’t the one who clung to him, frightened for anything which moved. 

The news of Voldemort seemed to shake her up more, so he clung to her side just as much as she did him. She spoke little.

Then, one morning, she’d asked him to go with her, take a walk. She needed to get away, she was tired of people staring at her as if she was going to break down. She was tired of seeing Cho in tears because it made her want to cry again, she was tired of telling everyone that yes, she was fine.

She was not fine, but she would grieve in time, in her own way.

Fred was rather surprised to find her leading him down towards Hagrid’s hut, to a small clearing in the forest just behind. It was a beautiful day out, not befitting anything which had happened in the past few days.

When he’d questioned where they were going, she shook her head and motioned for him to be silent. It was only when he saw the Unicorn and its foal did he realise. She let go of his hand, letting him linger by a tree a she hurried over. He’d heard from George about the pregnant unicorn. It didn’t seem like a big deal to him, not really, but, watching her, Fred couldn’t imagine why he’d ever thought that.

She was bending down to play with the baby. A tender, warm look on her face.

Fred folded his arms, watching her, content on the silence. It was the first time in days she had smiled, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

And, it was the first time he had seen her, truly seen her, since the term started.

His Artemis, the one he teased relentlessly, seemed to have gone. When had she grown, he wondered. He’d not realised it the entire few days, even when she’d been tucked to his side, that she’d grown to almost his height. He hadn’t seen that her cheeks were no longer soft, that there was no young girl look to her anymore, that she’d grown up properly, and, well, grown up well.

It was the soft, warm look on her face as she cared for the foal that made him realise it.

He liked her, he was _in_ like with her.

So, what was going on with Angelina?

He did like her, but… but it was different, somehow. Not was… strong. He’d always liked her, she was funny, intelligent, but Artemis? Yet, now he realised it, he couldn’t imagine that he had ever not liked her. She was funny, too, intelligent in her own ways. Warm, stubborn, insanely infuriating, yet kind, full of so many worries he was sure she tucked them away somewhere into the wrinkles at the top of her nose she always got when she was concentrating too intently. 

He had always known it, hadn’t he? 

He’d been cruel to her because he didn’t think he deserved someone like her. She deserved someone who could give her the world, he knew that. Someone like Cedric, someone who was perfect, made her laugh, could keep her safe, give her a good life. Something he couldn’t. It all seemed to make sense. He wanted to push her away, so he didn’t feel for her. What if Angelina had been part of that? He felt awful, as if he’d just been using her. But, no, he was sure he liked her, still liked her. 

Fred guessed it didn’t matter.

There was no way Artemis liked him, certainly not after how he’d been, so there was no point overthinking it. He’d stay with Angelina, maybe in time he’d like her more, like her fully, properly. He hoped, Artemis could forgive him, he missed their friendship; he wanted it back. He wanted to tease her again, he wanted her to go to him when she felt sad or scared, he missed their sleepovers, the sounds of her breathing when she slept next to him because she was scared or worried. 

“Fred?” she asked, looking up.

He shook his head, snapping out of his daze. “Sorry.”

“If it isn’t interesting, we can-“

“No,” he said firmly, sitting down by the tree. “You’re happy here, so let’s stay here for a bit longer.”

He should apologise, he knew that, but he was too afraid to remind her of the pain he’d caused her. He knew the things George told him, he knew earthing Summer had yelled at him, even the things Fiona had said were true, that he’d been awful to her, that she’d been crying over him. He didn’t deserve to have her ever like him back after what he’d done to her.

Yet, right then, it didn’t matter.

The world could have stopped outside of the small clearing and he wouldn’t have known. His eyes remained fix on the girl, laughing when the foal whinnied at her loudly. Nothing outside existed; for now, it was just the pair of them. The warmth on her face, the joy in her smile. Outside, there was no death, no looming threat of more, no worries, no troubles, no arguments, no girlfriends, no boyfriends. Just them.


	17. Grief

Going to Romania that summer to study with Charlie and his friends had been the best choice. I was kept so busy I had no time to think, and Charlie was so good to me, that I managed to process and handle Cedric’s death very healthily. If I had stayed at home, I wasn’t sure I would have. My family didn’t know what had happened, I hadn’t wanted to tell them, even Felix, but I knew they could tell something was… different. Charlie was very good to me, patient, yet firm. There were other local reserves which had other beasts, too, and I had spent numerous days there, learning from the witches and wizards. I made so many friends that summer. It made me miss Zeus, honestly. He was in the care of one of Hagrid’s friends at Hogwarts while he was off with Madam Maxime on a favour for Dumbledore. 

By the time it came to return to England, I had a deep tan from being outside, a lot of callouses on my hands, a few burns, a cut on my lip which was mostly healed and now scarring, and I felt like I had grown up and matured so much. Charlie kept me updated on what was going on back home with what he could, and honestly, while I probably should have gone back home, I didn’t. I apparated into the street in front of Grimmauld place and smiled fondly, watching the house pop out from between two others.

I had been there already at the beginning of summer, taking some of my things there so I wouldn’t have to get them after I was finished in Romania. I had only taken a small bag, with an undetectable extension charm on it, with me, with the essentials. It had been nice. After I graduated, I had decided I wanted to travel a bit, learn a lot more.

I really did feel like a new person.

Remembering not to use the doorbell, I knocked a few times and waited. I could hear movement inside—“It’s just me,” I sighed deeply.

“Oh!” The door flew open, a mess of pink hair flew at me—then screaming from the portrait because Tonks had yelled and tripped over again.

“Honestly, Tonks!” Mrs. Weasley said, hurrying in and forcing the curtains closed. “Oh, Artemis, dear!”

“Hello,” I grinned, hugging Tonks back, then hugging Mrs. Weasley. “Sorry I didn’t message ahead.”

“Oh, it’s no worry at all,” she said happily, peering for Charlie.

“He said he’s going to try and pop in some time soon,” I said, stretching softly. It was cold here, some lingering dark feeling. “How are things?” I asked, following both down to the kitchen. “Charlie said there was an issue?”

I had wanted to join the order, very willingly, though out of reckless abandonment more than anything. I had originally tried to grieve by shooting spells at anything, wanting to fight everything, arguing, prone to anger—I was calmer now. I still wanted to join, though. I knew Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t allow it, but, I figured, by the end of the school year I would have graduated, and she would no longer have a reason to not allow it.

“With Harry,” Tonks said gravely. “Dementors attacked him-“

“No?!”

“He’s okay,” she said quickly. “We brought him here last night, he was expelled, though.”

“What?” I frowned. “They can’t expel him, can they? It’s underage magic- oh hello,” I smiled warmly at the few in the kitchen. “But isn’t he allowed to, in life threatening situations?”

“He has a hearing soon,” Tonks frowned. 

“Ah, Harry,” Lupin murmured. “I’m sure that’s precisely the uplifting topic Artemis wanted to hear.”

“Well,” I started. “At least he’s alive.”

Sirius smiled. It was hard to get used to him not actually being a wanted murderer, but I was fond of him in the little time I had spent with him at the beginning of summer. He was fun to be around, he had a certain disregard for the rules, and he was exceptionally interesting to talk to. “He’s alive,” he nodded.

“How was Romania, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “Hungry? Did you eat breakfast? The others aren’t awake yet.”

I shook my head. “I already ate before I left, but thank you,” I stretched, yawning softly. It had been an early start, but if I hadn’t left when I did, I would have found it hard to. “Romania was really good, I learned so much.”

“Looks like you wrestled with a few dragons,” Sirius chuckled.

I grinned at him. “Got too close to a nesting female, my own fault really,” I shrugged, then pointed to the cut on my lip. “A hatchling gave me this one, we were trying to treat it for dragon pox and it really didn’t like us helping it,” I laughed.

Tonks grinned. I could see the relief in their faces. When I had left I’d been an awful state, jumpy, weepy, prone to just staring at walls for a long time. “Buckbeak is upstairs,” Sirius said gently. “If you wanted to see him, he’s been very odd recently. Quiet.”

“Quiet,” I repeated, chuckling. “He probably just hates being inside.”

“I know the feeling,” he murmured, ignoring the look Lupin gave him.

Despite my protests, Mrs. Weasley forced a huge bowl of porridge and a mug of tea in front of me. I was hungrier than I had thought and ate happily while discussing with Tonks some of the happenings with the dragons and other beasts. “There was a guy in France who was trying to keep a fully-grown dragon in his garden,” I laughed. “But he got upset when it ate his goat.”

Tonks snorted. “What did he think would happen?”

“I don’t know, but he wasn’t in his right mind,” I laughed.

The door opened, and I looked up, hoping to see one of my favourite people. My shoulders fell when it was just Mood. “No need to look so depressed to see us, Taylor,” he grunted.

“Sorry, Moody,” I grinned. The real Moody was a lot nicer than the fake one. That was another thing which had been cleared up, why ‘Moody’, who was really Barty Crouch Jr. had taken such a sadistic glee in performing the imperius curse on me. He’d been so offended by my lack of fear for Voldemort that he’d tried to teach me a lesson, they guessed. The real Moody was apparently impressed I had resisted it even so. He was interesting to talk to, as well, if not paranoid.

“I don’t know where he could have gone-“ another voice said, then broke off.

I looked up again to see Anita accompanied by Kingsley. She looked… off. She was still beautiful, radiant even, but there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked as though she’d pulled one too many late nights. “’Nita!” Tonks said happily. 

“Dora,” she greeted, smirking hugely.

“Anita, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said happily. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“I can’t, sorry, Molly,” she said, smiling weakly. “I need to get home to Summer and mum.”

She’d moved back in with them? And what had happened to her dad? I raised an eyebrow, wanting to question what was going on, but no one seemed willing to give an answer. She’d just come off a night shift for… something, she was very vague, and left soon after with Tonks and Kingsley. Moody didn’t stay long either and left soon after that.

It wasn’t much later when two loud pop’s echoed in the kitchen, followed by the voices of my two-favourite people. “Mornin’!” they said in unison together.

“Morning,” I replied.

George did a double take. “Missy!”

“You’re back!” Fred said, quickly sitting beside me. “When did you get here?”

They’d both only just woken up, their hair was a mess, and Fred had his t-shirt inside out. I tried not to laugh, but I think I failed, giggling softly. “An hour or two ago,” I shrugged. “I was talking with Tonks until she left.”

“Jeeze, Mis, you been fighting Dragons?” George asked, picking up my arm and staring at some of the worst burns. “You’re going to give Charlie a run for his money.”

I laughed. “It’s nothing, I’m fine, really. I’m perfect. How are both of you?”

Fred stared at me, probably trying to deice if that was the truth. I was very well known for pushing aside how I felt. “I’m fine, Fred,” I said to him quietly. “I grieved, I accepted it. I’m fine, really.” I squeezed his hand to reassure him.

Before long the kitchen was full of people. Hermione and Ginny were both pleased to see me, Harry had been more surprised I was there, and Ron was more concerned with breakfast. I was nursing another cup of tea while they ate, just listening happily to the conversation. Harry was quiet, I noticed. 

“Fiona wanted to come,” George said between mouthfuls. “But she got a study program at St. Mungo’s over summer, so she spends almost all her time there,” he sighed deeply. “So, we can’t tell her about this place.”

“Think he’s a bit lovesick?” Fred joked.

“Just a little,” I grinned, then paused, staring at him. “How about Angelina?”

I heard Fred inhale and Hermione gave me a strange look. It didn’t hurt anymore. I had just accepted it. I liked Fred still, I had realised when I’d seen him again I did, being away from him hadn’t helped at all, but… but I really had grownup. Physically, too, I had finished growing up. My chest had plumped out, my soft baby fat had mostly gone too. 

Fred sighed. “Not much to say.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Angelina is mad because he can’t meet her,” George explained. “And because he won’t tell her why. She wanted to visit, but obviously we’re not at home so…” he shrugged. “She just has to accept she can’t and stop sulking.”

“George-“

If they were about to argue it stopped when Mrs. Weasley gave them a firm glare. 

“Ah, young love,” Sirius sighed. “What a mess.”

I snorted, grinning at him. “Tell me about it.”

I got off rather lightly when it came to clean the house. I felt bad for the others, really, but first I was looking after Buckbeak, cleaning his room and tending to him, checking him over. He really missed being outside, and I wondered if it was not kinder to somehow get him back to Hogwarts before term started. After that, Mrs. Weasley simply had me helping to prepare lunch. I told her I could clean, but she simply said it was nonsense, and that the others had it under control. 

“I’ve never cooked with my mum,” I said to her, using magic to peel some carrots. It was hard to et used to, I wasn’t at all used to household spells. “Nor dad, it was always Selene’s thing, to cook with them. I preferred to help dad in the garden.”

She smiled at me. “Well, you’re doing a good job. Just a bit of practice on those spells and you’ll have it perfect. I tried to get Tonks to help but-“ her brows knotted together. 

“Disaster strikes if you ask dear old Tonks to do a household spell,” Sirius laughed. “Didn’t the potatoes explode.”

Mrs. Weasley grimaced and I laughed. I could imagine that being the case. Tonks was very fun to be around, she’d been the one with Fred to go to the extreme of trying to make me laugh before I had left for Romania. The pair had put their heads together to come up with some rather crazy ideas, most of which had backfired and had just caused me to jump out of my skin in fright. 

After lunch I took my stuff up to the room I was staying in. The room Ginny was in, was being shared by Hermione, and so there was no space left in there. It let me have a room to myself, to begin with anyway. About four days after I arrived, we were all sitting down for dinner when the door opened, and Anita walked in, accompanied by Summer.

If Anita had looked exhausted, it was nothing to how Summer looked.

Her eyes were a mix of dark circles and red, puffy from crying. Her long hair looked as though it hadn’t been properly cared for or brushed recently and was just piled into a lazy bun on the top of her head. She didn’t look at any of us, she just clutched a book close to her chest as Anita moved her to sit at the table next to me. She squeezed her shoulders and took her bag from her.

“Artemis, it’s okay if she shares with you, right?”

“Yes, of course,” I said, not looking at Anita.

Summer wouldn’t look at me, but I took her hand under the table and squeezed it. She returned the pressure and I moved closer to her. Dinner was very quiet that evening. Harry’s trial was the day after, and after Anita had left, Summer hadn’t said two words. Everyone was staring at her, wondering what was going on; she’d open in her own time I guessed.

It didn’t take her long, though.

I took her up to the room we were sharing and sat on her bed, with her back to me. I left her there to unpack and went across the hall to the twin’s room. 

“How is she?” George asked quietly.

I shook my head. “I wonder what happened?”

“Must be Cedric, no?” Fred said. “They were really close. It’s odd to see her like this… I’m so used to her being all sunshine and daisies.”

I didn’t stay with them long, instead hurrying back to check on Summer. I hadn’t expected to return to find her in tears, but I wasn’t sure what else I had expected. Some sitting there, staring blankly at the wall? Maybe. 

“Summer?”

I moved to sit beside her, rubbing her back.

“I-I don’t know what to do,” she sobbed out, clinging to me tightly. She just cried for ages into my chest. At one-point Mrs. Weasley came in, her face full of concern, but she let us be and I heard her tell the others to leave us alone, that Summer would approach them when she was ready.

I inhaled. “Summer, what happened?”

She pulled away then, wiping her tears on her hands and sniffed. I had never seen anything but joy in her eyes, but now there was a fire, a passion, but a cold hardness too. “My father went missing at the beginning of the holidays,” she said quietly. “My mum wouldn’t tell me why, and I was confused when Anita moved back in, but-“ she looked away. “My father was a death eater.”

I felt my blood go cold.

“That’s why Anita hates him so much, that’s why she became an auror. Why she doesn’t want me near him. It’s why she was so happy I was sorted into Hufflepuff, and why she hated to be Slytherin,” she sniffed again. “I was trying to deal with Cedric, but then this on top, and then-“

I inhaled. What else could have possibly happened?

“My mum vanished…. Two days ago.”

I didn’t want her to say it, I knew by the hollow tone of her voice what words were coming next.

“She turned up dead this morning. She refused to join my father…” She looked visibly sick. “Anita wouldn’t tell me details, but I overheard her discussing it with Kingsley when they picked me up… they mutilated her body, cut her arm as if it was supposed to be some dark mark—how… and now I’m in danger… Anita thinks he wants me to join him- I-I would never, but—I’m so scared, Mis, I’m terrified.”

Her hands were shaking in testament to this. I didn’t know what to say, all I could do was hold her close to me, wanting to protect her from the world. “Anita will find them, she’ll keep you safe. We all will,” I promised. 

“Did you know my dad is friends with the Malfoys,” she said, sounding disgusted. “He took me over there, at the beginning of the holidays. Draco looked as disgusted as I was… that was two days before he vanished… to think I was-“ she shuddered. “What if he’d been there, Artemis? Anita went mad when she found out, they had a huge argument….”

I rubbed her back, holding her tightly for a long time. She said little else, but she cried a lot. Poor kid. She hadn’t had time to grieve for one of her best friends, then her father goes missing and her world is turned upside down, and to top it off—her mother was killed, possibly by her father. “How do I face Neville,” she said, her voice strained.

“I’m sure he won’t judge you-“

“You don’t understand,” she said weakly.“You don’t know—he told me… how can….” She looked away. “He’s been sending me letters, tons of them, but I didn’t reply once… He thinks he did something wrong, but… every time I go to reply to him, my hand won’t write a thing.”

I smiled softly. “Do you want me to write to him, for you? Tell him what’s going on?”

She nodded. “Leave out the part of my father being…. You know,” she said, gripping my arm. “I want to tell him myself… in person… when I can find the courage to.”

I let her alone after that, deciding she needed sleep. I took Apollo and some writing tools to the twin’s room to pen the letter. They were busy talking about their store—I was so happy for them. Harry had given them his winnings to set up their joke store—Which reminded me I hadn’t thanked him for that yet. So, I quickly wrote to Neville and set Apollo off, before creeping downstairs and knocking on Ron and Harry’s room. I wasn’t shocked to find Ginny and Hermione there at all.

“Artemis,” Hermione said in surprise. “How is Summer?”

I gave her a weak smile. “I think it’s safe to say she’s had a worse holiday than any of us,” I said. “Harry, can I borrow you, please?”

He looked very quickly like he’d done something wrong and stood up. I laughed. “I thought you might come help me feed Buckbeak, he’s not really himself, maybe another friendly face will help?”

He looked visibly relieved and nodded, trailing after me. He was so quiet, odd for Harry. I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through, but I let him stay silent as we both bowed to Buckbeak. He headed to the Hippogriffs side first, matting his fingers into his feathers. 

“How do you look so well put together?” he asked at length. “You and Cedric-“

“He was one of my best friends,” I said quietly, moving to sit at his side. “I miss him, I really do. I won’t lie, it was awful at the beginning. But, I went to Romania to study with Charlie and it really helped. It was just what I needed to be able to process and deal with it,” I smiled at him. “Cedric wouldn’t want us to be sad, Harry, he’d want us to fight back, to use his death as a form of strength. I believe that, I really do. He wouldn’t want us to give up.”

Harry was silent for a bit, eyes narrowed as he focused on Buckbeak. “No one is telling me anything… I could help, but….”

“You could help, Harry,” I agreed. “But you’re still young, underage. All of us are, we’re just kids, Harry. What can we do?” I took his hands quickly when he balled them into fists. “I want to help too—at the beginning of summer all I wanted to do was shoot spells at whichever death eater came near me first. You should have seen me react to Sirius,” I chuckled softly. “I still want to help, but with my mind clearer… I can see that it’s not the best of ideas. I’m sure Dumbledore has reasons.”

“Reasons he hasn’t told anyone. He asked… Ron and Hermione to not tell me anything.”

“Because our letters could be intercepted, Harry,” I shook my head, sighing. “I don’t know much about what’s going on—I barely know you for that matter. I’ve found myself in the middle of something huge and honestly, it scares me. If Dumbledore had a reason for keeping you there, then maybe it is best to trust him, no?”

Harry didn’t look so convinced.

“That’s not why I brought you up here anyway,” I said at length. “I wanted to thank you, for giving the winnings to Fred and George for the joke shop.”

“They told you?”

I chuckled. “The three of us don’t keep secrets from each other anymore,” I said, though I knew that wasn’t entirely true, neither George nor I mentioned about my feelings for Fred. 

“I didn’t want the money,” he said, looking disgusted. “And the Diggory’s wouldn’t take it… it seemed fitting, if they can put it towards more laughter in the world….”

I smiled hugely at him. “Laughter is important. Still, it was a noble choice you made. When I heard about the tournament last year I wanted to join so I could win the money for them,” I laughed. “I really wanted their dreams to become reality, sometimes I think I believe in their dreams more than I do mine.”

Harry shifted but said no more. The look he gave me said it all, that he didn’t quite recognise me. I really had grown up over the holidays, I was thankful for it, I couldn’t mope and sulk—not now. Not when Summer was upstairs in such a bad way. I ran my fingers through my hair, leaving Harry alone with Buckbeak and heading downstairs again. It was late, but—

Anita was still in the kitchen when I entered. She had been crying, Tonks was holding her hand tightly. She didn’t try and hide it when I entered. I just stared at her sadly, knowing no words I had could ever help her. “She told you,” She said at length.

“She did…” I paused. “She’ll be okay.”

“Will she?” she asked quickly. “I’ve never seen her like this… She’s always so happy, she’s never lost anything, you know? And now Cedric, then both of our parents, and our whole life is a lie. I’m surprised she doesn’t hate me.”

“Why would she hate you?” Tonks said quickly.

“I should have told her… but she loved him so much. He always insisted… he’d changed, he’d never go back, he loved her too much-“ there was resentment. Her father loved her little sister too much—of course, Anita had been a child during the first war and he’d abandoned them both then to become a death eater. “I didn’t believe him, that’s why I argued with him so much. Now he proves me right… I could have handled it until then, but my mother-“ She inhaled. “Summer is too innocent, she’s not the type of person who is going to get over this.”

I wanted to say she’d underestimated her, that Summer had more strength than she realised, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Summer was gentle, even if she liked to act like she wasn’t. She stood up for her friends, she would hex Malfoy at any chance she got—but those were idle things. Those weren’t loss, pain this deep and all at once. Betrayal, lies. She was a child, how was she supposed to accept those things as fact and move on?

I went to bed that night feeling weary. Summer was curled up in her bed when I returned, her evened out breathing assuring me she was asleep already. Nothing was right anymore, everything was so reversed, so back to front—

I crept out of my room and across the hall to the twins. Their beds were pushed together, and they were whispering to each other when I pushed the door opened, my wand alight. “Boys?”

“Mis?” George asked, sounding half asleep.

I shifted, pulling at the bottom of my pyjama top. “Think I can crash in here?”

Fred yawned, and to my surprise, moved over so he was lying in the middle of the two beds, and lifted the covers on his side. I thought about Angelina, what she would think, what she would say—but it wasn’t anything illicit. I was just… scared, and cold, and unsure of everything. I crawled in beside him, lying there awkwardly for a while. They were talking about the joke

shop, so unaware of Summer’s pain above us, so separated from the rest of the world. You could have easily been forgiven for forgetting there was a world full of war and fear and anger outside the bedroom. 

“How is Summer?” Fred asked after they’d both been silent for a long time.

“Bad, Anita is just as bad too…” I frowned up at the ceiling. “Let’s talk about something else, please?”

“We’re final year students,” George pointed out quietly. “NEWT students. Exam hell!”

I snorted. “It’s okay for you both, you don’t even intend to sit them,” I rolled onto my side to face them. “I kind of want to drop all of my classes that isn’t Hagrid, but McGonagall would never allow it…” I sighed. “I want to get back, one of Hagrid’s friends is looking after Zeus, she sent me letters. He’s gotten big, apparently. But he misses me.”

Fred laughed. “Bit young to be a mother, aren’t you?”

I laughed too. “Only to Griffin’s, Freddie.”

Our conversation stilled. George was snoring softly, but both Fred and I lay awake there. I wasn’t sure if either of us got any sleep that night, but it was nice. Things felt less lonely, less heavy, just knowing he was there. “Fred,” I said quietly.

“Mm?”

“Please… let’s never fight like last year.”

“Agreed.”

“Fred?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

He let out a breath, and his hand went down to mine, where he squeezed it softly to reassure me. He said no words, he didn’t have to. 


	18. Ephemeral

Despite Harry’s trial going well in his favour, there was a dark mood over the house for the rest of the holidays. Summer was entirely withdrawn from everyone, and after she’d burst into tears over dinner one evening, had ended up refusing to go down even to eat. Anita had let the rest of us tell the others what had gone on, purely because they were all worried and she wanted them to understand that Summer just needed her own space. When I’d asked Anita how she was feeling, she’d just said she would feel better when she’d brought her father to justice. It was wrong, it shouldn’t have been on her shoulders, it would destroy her, I was sure of it. Yet, what could I do? I couldn’t very well volunteer myself to do it.

Honestly, I was grateful for the return to Hogwarts. I was anxious to see Zeus, and to get away from the melancholy which had filled the air. On top of Summer, Harry was snappier with everyone after Hermione and Ron were made prefects, and Sirius had become less jovial after Harry was able to return. I didn’t want to leave Summer, but when she saw Neville, she smiled for the first time since I’d seen her, and George had very well pointed out, that I needed my own sanity too. So, I had let her alone with him to discuss whatever it was she needed to and joined Fred and George in their carriage. 

“Fiona will join us in a bit,” George said, almost fidgeting. 

“Alright, lover boy,” Fred rolled his eyes. “Mis, you realise you look dangerous, right? I saw some first year’s stare at you with the biggest eyes.”

I groaned. “I don’t, do I?” I touched the scar on my lip and frowned. It was the only visible scar, apart from the burns on my arms.

“Well,” George paused. “You do look like no one should mess with you, perhaps it will come into your favour somehow,” he laughed. “Angelina not joining us?”

Fred shrugged. “She got made Quidditch captain, so she’s probably talking to Katie. I asked her to come, but she didn’t reply-“ The door opened, and Lee Jordan sprang in. I was happy to see him, even if it meant repeating myself how I had ‘yes been wrestling dragons’. 

Fiona joined us soon after, looking exhausted, and a head girl badge firmly attached to her robes. Even though she didn’t mention it, it was obvious she was proud of it. If it had been anyone else, I was positive Fred and George would have taken the piss, but Fiona was such a sweet person, it was hard to joke about her at all. She seemed to bring out their kind sides in full force. I couldn’t think of anyone better, though, she had worked hard for it, and she was fair and approachable. And, very passionate about how she’d spent the holidays, studying in St. Mungo’s to become a healer. 

Things felt as they should, I decided, staring from the window as the train carried on. It was raining, which wasn’t really a surprise, but the day seemed so good. If only I had known that my final year at Hogwarts would not be the dream I had expected. If I had known, I would not have gotten off at Hogsmeade station, in fact I doubt as if I would have gotten on the train at all. 

There was a woman at the feast. One I knew, one I recognised. Some of the friends I had made over the holidays knew her, Dolores Umbridge. A foul woman, one who hated half breeds, and so a lot of the beasts they studied had harsher laws thrust upon them, probably thanks to the lady in pink herself. I thought of Zeus down in the forest. Hagrid wasn’t here, I would be the only person here now, able to look after him. I was certain if Umbridge found out, things would not turn out well.

“Fred,” I said quietly at dinner. Everyone had been left somewhat quiet after Umbridge’s speech, no doubt some trying to figure out what she’d said, and those who had already, were left disgusted and confused. “I need your help.”

“Yeah?”

“Hagrid isn’t here, after dinner I need to go and check on Zeus. Want to come?”

“Day one and already sneaking out to the forest and breaking rules. You bet I want to come,” he said instantly. I smiled at him. 

I felt awful for the happy feeling in the pit of my stomach when Angelina had not sat next to him. I tried not to pay attention to how he didn’t even look at her. If he liked her I didn’t wat them to split up, I didn’t want him to be hurt over it, but, if she was making him feel bad, if she was not being understanding, if either of them were arguing or fighting… perhaps the best thing for the pair of them was to just… give up, salvage the friendship before it got too far. It made me think of Cedric. 

I missed him.

He was gone. I accepted it. But whenever I looked over at Summer, red eyed, at the Hufflepuff table, and the space empty next to her—had they left it empty on purpose, or on accident? Or maybe they’d just been trying to avoid Summer, since she seemed to be putting out an aura of ‘stay away from me’. He should be there, trying to cheer her up, giving me helpless glances. Cedric should be teasing me about my summer, he should be making comments about Fred and me. 

I pushed my rice pudding away not feeling so hungry anymore. If anyone noticed they said nothing, perhaps thinking nothing of it. 

Over the holidays I had spent a lot of time thinking about Cedric and wishing somehow things had been different. Not just his fate, but our fate too. I had spent a good few weeks at the beginning hating myself for having not fallen for him the way I had fallen for Fred. If it had been him I had liked, I would not have been left broken hearted. Perhaps things may have turned out differently. I blamed myself, for betting on Harry, as if it had made him determined to prove me wrong. I blamed myself for everything—the should haves, the what ifs, and all the buts which ran through my mind as though they were cats chasing mice and getting nowhere. There was nothing to do. 

I really had accepted it. Charlie had helped so much, working hard over the holidays had done miracles for me, and I felt fine, I felt put together, on top of things. I felt like there should be a but there. I felt put together, _but_ —I was on top of things, _but_ —I felt fine, _but_ \--. 

But nothing.

Nothing was wrong. There was no hidden clause at the end of the sentence, there was no fine print anywhere. Nothing was wrong. It was almost too good to be true, that I wouldn’t be such a mess, that besides Umbridge, things would be okay this year. I tried to drown out the thoughts of Voldemort and his followers, those were the ones which made me panic most. I understood and yet despised Fudge’s actions in denouncing Harry and Dumbledore. He feared the return of Voldemort; how could he not be? And who could blame him? Yet it was a cowardly act, a disgusting one that befit the choice of a lesser man than him. He should be preparing everyone, listening to Dumbledore’s advice. Instead he spent his time covering up disappearances and murders, and defaming Harry and Dumbledore any chance he got.

I found it amusing, how the previous year I had happily said Voldemort’s name out of no fear of him. He was gone, to me. And now he was back, and I said his name, but it was tinged with fear. I knew what he could do, what he was capable of, what he wished to do. I knew the people I loved most were in danger from him and his followers, I knew I was too. Yet I could deny it, reject the truth. These bad things happened to people I cared about, Harry and the Dementors, Summer and her parents Cedric--, but, I had not witnessed it myself yet, I could convince myself that it was happening far away. Perhaps that was a cowardly thing to do, too, yet I couldn’t help it. It scared me. It wasn’t even so much what he could do—it was the fact he just… didn’t seem to be able to die. He had gone, and now he was back again. How do you beat a foe that can not be beaten? It seemed a futile question to even ponder.

Fred was good to me on the way down to check on Zeus. He didn’t disturb my thoughts, but he stayed close to me, checking to make sure I was okay if I stumbled. It was only when we were deep enough into the forest that we both lit our wands up. “Zeus?”

“This place feels different,” Fred commented. “Darker somehow, more dangerous.”

I was inclined to agree. “Zeus?” I said a little louder.

We found him—or rather—he found us soon after. Charging across the ground and almost pouncing on top of me. I was glad he remembered me, glad he was still affectionate. He had grown so much, not fully grown yet, but he’d obviously been eating well. “You learnt to hunt alone yet, boy?” I asked quietly, petting his beak softly. “Hagrid isn’t coming back just yet, so I’m afraid you have to deal with me—” I looked at Fred, motioning to come over. “And Fred.”

“He’s huge, Mis-“

Fred hadn’t seen him yet. “Don’t be scared,” I said to him, holding out my hand for his. “Trust me.”

I sat there for a while, wondering if he would trust me enough, but eventually he gave me his hand, and I slowly, and very gently, put Fred’s hand on a spot on Zeus’ back which I knew he liked to be petted. When he closed his eyes and let out a strange, low purring sound in contentment, I withdrew my hand and watched as Fred starred in awe.

“He likes you.”

“Of course he does,” he said confidently. “Who wouldn’t like me?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “That woman, Umbridge.”

“The toad?”

I laughed again. “She… can’t know about him,” I said, watching Zeus peck at his arm when he stopped petting him. “She hates half-breeds with every disgusting bone in her body.”

“What kind of teacher do you suppose she’ll be?” Fred mused. 

I didn’t want to answer, I wasn’t sure I could. But I had a feeling she would be anything but pleasant. Everything felt so right then, I toyed with the idea of telling him how I felt, but I talked myself out of doing it. He was still with Angelina, I refused to get in between them in any way. If they happened to break up, at least it wouldn’t be my fault.

And yet… as I watched him I couldn’t help but feel that I’d been rather silly for not realising how I felt sooner. He’d been right there the entire time, yet I had just simply not noticed. He was everything I liked, and everything that was good for me. It seemed almost unfair, in a way. If I hadn’t been a witch, perhaps I would never meet him. Fate was funny.

“You okay, Mis?”

“Let’s not go back,” I said quietly. “Let’s just… stay here or just… I don’t know, run away.”

“What?” He frowned, pushing Zeus from him slightly so he could sit up. “Where would we run away to?”

“I don’t know,” I said, wanting to reach out and take his hand. “Let’s just go.”

Fred was silent, I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. I wasn’t sure what I was thinking. The urge was there, I wanted to go, to just be free. I suddenly didn’t care about graduating, I didn’t care about much at all. “As amazing as that sounds, you’d regret it, and while I’m all for spontaneous acts of rule breaking, I don’t want you to make a choice you’d regret.”

I sighed.

“You want to graduate so you can work with magical beasts,” he said firmly. “If you run off….”

“I still can, even if I don’t graduate,” I murmured. “It just makes it harder.”

“What brought this on?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, running my fingers through Zeus fur. It was safe to say he was enjoying the attention. “I don’t want to get caught up in a war… I don’t want you or George to either. Summer is messed up because of choices her father made for her, how is that fair? I can’t bare the thought of her being next, or you, or George—and what about Ginny? Or Harry?”

“It might not come to that,” he said weakly, but his voice betrayed his true feelings. He knew it would, just as well as I did. Neither of us were young and stupid, we could stay in the forest and pretend nothing was happening on the outside as long as possible, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t happening.

We didn’t stay there much longer. When it started getting too cold, we snuck back up to the common room, though Zeus hadn’t wanted to let us go at all. It was only after I promised him I’d see him in the morning did he eventually stop following us. I don’t know what I was thinking—seriously debating taking him and running off. I wanted to protect him from everything, especially that foul woman. What would happen if she found him? A group of Hippogriffs was one thing, but a lone Griffin? Near extinct? There was almost nothing in modern research about them, the only stories we had were from ancient witches and wizards who pictured them as brutes, as untrainable. The truth was further from it, but people always find it easier to believe the worst of a situation, even if it’s a lie.

I didn’t sleep that well that night. First class was potions, and it was a nightmare. I worked with Fiona, and I was very glad for her being in my class now the Seventh year one had gotten smaller than the sixth year one, but Cedric’s absence was obvious. I was so used to working so well with him that I kept finding myself at a loss.

McGonagall gave us a strict lecture about our NEWT exams, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about them. It seemed so trivial really. I hadn’t been joking when I had said I was debating dropping everything apart from Care of Magical Creatures.

We didn’t have Umbridge until the Thursday, but by then, the whole school had heard stories of her other classes. I wasn’t sure whether I had respected Harry for yelling at her, or whether I thought him foolish. Summer had lost her temper, too, and been given two weeks’ worth of detentions for it. She’d been lucky that Professor Sprout had somehow convinced Umbridge to let her serve most of them with her. Fiona told me that she’d over heard some fifth year Ravenclaw’s who had that class with her say that Umbridge had started to treat Summer like she was unstable and needed to be treated carefully. Summer was usually with Neville these days and spoke to few other people, if he wasn’t with him, she was alone. If I sat with her she said nothing until she would say goodbye. I didn’t know what to do for her outside of letting her know I was there for her, but I was grateful to Neville who seemed to be able to make her smile. Whatever she’d been worried about with telling him about her father, it seemed she had no reason to.

Umbridge’s class was a disaster, to say the least.

She’d instantly separated the twins, Lee, and I and forced us to sit in each corner of the room with the books she’d given us. They were dull. I wasn’t great at defence anyway, but this was ridiculous. There was nothing about using spells, and the way she spoke about how a ‘theoretical knowledge will get you through your exams’ was a joke. That sounded like she was encouraging us to fail the practical part, and while I had wanted to point this out to her, I knew she was looking for any excuse to pounce upon any student acting out of line. I kept silent, merely because of Zeus.

If OWL year had been bad, it was nothing next to NEWT year. I often heard Hermione, Harry, and Ron complain loudly about their workload already, but I’d given them dark looks and made a joke to Hermione about how we could swap work instead. Yet, I didn’t have the heart to properly study anything.

There was one thing I probably disliked more than the workload, and it was the sudden sympathy I felt for Malfoy whenever I saw him. He never looked at me, and I noticed, every now and then, he would look over at Summer with the strangest expression on his face. Of course, he knew what was going on, but I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought about it. What he felt about it? He was a child. Summer’s age, and yet his parents were death eaters, too, no? He was as caught up in this war as Summer was, if not worse—and it was entirely out of his choice. He didn’t have one parent who was against Voldemort, he didn’t have an older sister willing to give her life to protect him—who did he have? The realisation of that, of the fact that Malfoy’s choices had never been his, distressed me. I wasn’t used to seeing him as a victim when he was usually such a bully, but no one should have been in his position.

By the end of the first month of term, things had finally settled down enough that I got to spend leisure time. The twins were busy working on their skiving snack boxes and trying to avoid Hermione who really wanted to stop them from testing on first years, so I had come down to the forest on my own. Originally, I had gone to find Zeus, but when I’d seen a long mane of blonde hair enter the spot that the Unicorns and Thestrals usually grazed, I found myself following.

Luna Lovegood was a strange girl, but, one I quite liked. I’d met her a few times after I’d started helping Hagrid out. She often came to see the Thestrals and was quite taken with the other beasts. We spoke a lot about our shared interests, though she was more interested in creatures which hadn’t proven to be real. Still, with very few people in the school able to see Thestrals, it was quite nice. 

“Oh, hello, Artemis,” she said dreamily when I approached. “How was your summer?”

“Oh, it was good,” I shrugged, content to just watch her feed them. There were footsteps and I paused, wondering who it was. “I went to study dragons.”

“I bet that was fascinating,” she said, looking at me—or rather through me. Luna had that kind of expression. “Did you know Summer has been crying in the girl’s bathrooms?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a terrible sound,” she said, grimacing. “Like a cat. When someone has stood on it’s tail. Even Moaning Myrtle seemed offended by the sound.”

I wanted to laugh, but I just felt worried. “She had a bad holiday,” I said simply, smiling and petting one of the younger Thestrals as it rubbed against me.

“What are those?”

“Oh, hello Harry,” Luna greeted.

Well, that explained the footsteps. I paused and looked at him, the sudden realisation that he would have seen what was pulling the carriages now hitting me. I should have realised sooner and told him, Hermione and Ron probably thought him mad for seeing invisible creatures. “Artemis?” He squinted at me, though his expression was one of relief. I could understand; it was one thing for ‘Loony Lovegood’ to see them, but if I could too, it meant he really wasn’t insane. “What are they?”

“They’re called Thestrals, Harry,” I said quietly. “They’re incredibly intelligent creatures, amazing sense of directions. And very affectionate,” I laughed when the one playing with me knocked me down low enough to lick my face.

“People tend to stay away from them,” Luna said quietly. “Because… well….”

“Because they’re different,” Harry offered. Luna nodded. “But why can’t—I mean… you two can see them?”

“Oh, Harry,” I said gently, managing to pull myself up when Luna offered the one mauling me some meat. “I should have told you—so you weren’t shocked… they can only be seen by people who’ve seen death.”

Realisation dawned on his face. “You both…?”

“My mum,” Luna said simply. “She was experimenting one day—it went horribly wrong.”

“I’m sorry-“ Harry frowned.

“Yes, it was quite awful.”

He gave me a look. She didn’t sound sad, but, that was just Luna in a nutshell. I shrugged at him, patting off some of the dirt from my legs. “My grandfather. He was in hospital when I was young, he died while Felix and I were sitting with him. I don’t even remember it that well, but,” I shrugged. “They’re very misunderstood creatures.”

I cut off when I heard Zeus call out. I laughed, unable to stop myself. “I’m sorry, but I believe my son is hungry. I’ll see you later, Harry?” I smiled at him, hurrying through the threes to find Zeus. The urge to never go back was so tempting. To just… live in the forest. I wondered if I could survive it, but the centaurs would probably evict me before any teachers could. Still, it was an amusing thought.

George and Fiona were closer than ever. She had some good ideas for their products and was helping a lot with the counter spells to stop nose bleeds or remove black eyes. I think he found it quite amusing that she was happily helping as head girl, and didn’t mind if they tested on first years, when Hermione always had a heart attack over them doing it. Her reply was simply that if they were being upfront about it to the first years, then they were doing nothing wrong.

They became the butt of Fred and I’s jokes, though, because they were so ‘fluffy’ together. Honestly, he was like a whole new man around her. If he hadn’t been so damn happy I probably would have found the whole thing quite disgusting. They were always holding hands, and she would always stare at him with these huge doe eyes that I sincerely hoped I didn’t get when I looked at Fred. Still, sometimes it was difficult to be around them. They were so happy it only seemed to remind me of my situation, and Fred didn’t like it too much either.

It seemed that his twins’ fully functioning and healthy relationship had caused him to come to come realisations about his relationship with Angelina. And, as such, the pair were arguing ceaselessly, and worse than he and I had done last year. I wasn’t sure what they argued about, and it was always after Fred had been with George and Fiona, but, the arguments were so explosive that by the time Angelina stormed up to her room in tears, everyone in Gryffindor tower was aware of it.

I felt kind of bad for her, because she didn’t really seem to understand what she’d done wrong. I could understand his initial anger at her, for not being understanding of his situation over the holidays, but, this was too much anger for it to be just that. I wanted to ask Fred what had happened to cause him to be so angry, and I wanted to ask her, too, curious if he’d done something to make her argue with him. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, knowing that if I asked them, they’d expect some response that was probably akin to advice, and I knew I couldn’t give them proper advice. I could try, but if their breakup came as a result from it, I would feel awful.

Still, I hated the arguing. It made them both unhappy and neither of them deserved to be in such a horrible relationship. I wanted to suggest that they both sit down and talk it out, but, I never did. Fred never asked me about it either and for that I was glad. 

They weren’t much better during Quidditch practices either. Ron, who was our new keeper, hadn’t quite understood the scope of their arguing yet, and so when the pair had begun arguing near the end of our first practice, he’d flown closer to George and me, absolutely confused. Especially when the both of us were staring quite boredly at the scene.

“Maybe you should break it up?”

“Nah,” George shrugged. “They’ll figure it out, and if they don’t, well, they don’t.”

“You think he’d just break up with her,” Ron frowned.

“It’s not exactly easy to break up with someone, Ron,” I pointed out. “He likes her.”

“Does he?” George murmured. “I’m not sure if he does anymore. I haven’t heard her say a good thing about her recently.”

It was true, if Fred spoke about her now, it was all negative. I didn’t listen to most of it. Angelina had been a good friend to me before all of this had happened, and I knew she wasn’t a bad person. I knew he wasn’t either—he just didn’t seem to do well at processing and handling his emotions. Last year when he and I had argued, and now him and Angelina—I wondered who would be next, and I sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to yell at George. Of course, they had fights, but they always made up quickly, but I wasn’t sure if even their bond would be able to handle arguments every day.

I thought of Selene and Felix. I wrote to them frequently. Felix wrote back twice as much as Selene, but Selene seemed a lot happier, and a lot more open about herself. She told me she’d been writing with Anita a lot and was concerned why Anita seemed so distant these days. I just encouraged her to try and meet her in person and talk it through. Selene and I were probably never going to be as close as we used to be, something in our bond had… broken. Not just changed, but, broken. And, as much as we both tried to fix it, it would always be forever changed. Still, she was my sister, and I loved her deeply. I was glad she was doing better.

“Alright,” Angelina called after Fred had flown away quite grumpily. “Practice is over.” She wanted to say more, her eyes lingered on Ron who, it seemed, was an amazing keeper when he wasn’t being pressured. She was close to taking out her frustrations on him, I could tell, and so could George because he moved to hide Ron slightly from sight. It was enough for Angelina to sigh and leave the pitch herself. 

“This is a mess,” George muttered.

I smiled up at him. “Tell me about it.”

“You ever going to tell him how you feel?”

I paused. “Do you think I should?”

He sighed, his fingers running through his hair. “At this point it can’t possibly make anything worse, maybe it can clear things up,” he frowned. “He likes you, Mis, I know he does. Even if he doesn’t know it himself.”

I shook my head. He’d had this same conversation with me a few times recently, but whenever I asked him how he knew, he just shrugged. I knew they were close, but I wasn’t going to go off his hunch, no matter how accurate it usually was.Still, the idea of telling Fred I liked him was one I played with. George was right, it couldn’t possibly make anything worse, and at this point, I just wanted him and Angelina to stop arguing, so that both could move on and be happy. I looked over to Fred who was walking along behind us, staring at the grass as though it held the secret of the universe.

“Freddie?”

His head shot up, eyes alert and a bright smile on his lips as he looked at me. The smile I liked best, the one he only ever had for me. My stomach curled up and did backflips and I decided he had no right to look so darn happy to see me. “What’s up, Squirt?”

George gave me a lingering look and hurried after Ron, leaving me alone with Fred. It was a good chance to tell him, I knew it, but… but I just couldn’t do it. The more I watched Fred stare at me like that, the more scared I became of ruining this. I didn’t want to go back to fighting with him, I didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t smile or laugh, I wanted to be ab lot be here for him, as a friend, to cheer him up when he needed it, like he always did for me. I couldn’t tell him.

I shook my head. “Want to go to the kitchens? I’m starving and really craving some chocolate cake.”

Fred chuckled deeply. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Missy.”

I smiled. “Feeling’s mutual, Freddie.”


	19. Hogsmeade

Umbridge’s classes were a nightmare. We had all long since accepted that all we would ever do in her class would be to read the stupid book in silence, but that didn’t mean any of us liked it. I had expressed my dislike of her methods to Professor McGonagall sometime during the middle of October, but she had just sighed and simply told me there was nothing she could do about her teaching methods. It only got worse after that with her promotion to ‘High Inquisitor’. A joke, if you ask me. How on earth Dumbledore was letting her get away with all of this I had no clue. Hermione and Fiona had both said out loud that his hands were probably tied, but as I said to the twins in private, that had never stopped him going against the ministry before.

It frustrated me to no end, and with all the work for NEWT’s on top, I was starting to get stressed out. It really didn’t help that Angelina was really pushing the quidditch team and had become somewhat worse than Oliver Wood. I wanted to snap at her, and I wanted to quit the team even more. None of this seemed worth it anymore. If I had been happy at the beginning of term, it had long since gone.

“Come on, Mis,” Fred said weakly one evening. The twins and I had just come back from the kitchens and returned to a near deserted common room. I’d wanted to sleep, but instead had gone to the table and pulled out my potions essay. “You haven’t laughed at a single one of my jokes all evening.”

I gave him a small smile. I just didn’t feel like it. This whole situation was just… frustrating. I felt like a bird trapped in a cage. My dislike for strict rules, the awful feeling of not being in control of my own life—I felt like perhaps I would explode one of these days.

“I want to drop all of my classes,” I said quietly after some time. I put my quill down and stared at him. George looked up at me too. 

“You studied really hard on your OWL’s though,” Fred pointed out.

“So that I could get extra study sessions with Hagrid, and he’s not even here anymore,” I sighed, rubbing my hands on my face. Harry, who was sat by the fire, looked over at us briefly. “I’m fed up. I can’t even look after Zeus properly, I need to introduce him to the Hippogriffs so he can learn to hunt, but where is Hagrid? I can’t do it without him! At this rate I’m going to need to send him off somewhere else-“ I almost felt my heart break at the idea. “I feel like I’m wasting my time.”

“Preaching to the choir, Missy,” George said softly, squeezing my shoulder. “If it wasn’t for Quidditch… I think Freddie and I would be long gone,” he admitted, keeping his voice quiet when Hermione looked over at us. The three of them were acting off, looking as if they couldn’t wait to get rid of us.

I slammed my book shut, sighing in frustration. “Why is no one doing anything about Umbridge?”

“Mis, come on, none of us know the killing curse.”

I looked at Fred, and despite myself, laughed softly.  “You know how disgusting I feel for laughing at that?” I muttered. “You know, Snape is an angel next to her- oh, alright!” I snapped at the three, watching Ron edge closer, giving us a wary look. “If you want to get rid of us just say so,” I muttered again, shoving my things into my bag and heading upstairs to the boys dorm. I wasn’t going to sleep, honestly, I rarely slept at all these days. I spent a lot of time with Fred and George and Lee in their dorm, thinking of products or trying to figure out how to help Summer.

“She’s gone crazy, absolutely mad,” Ron said. It took all of my energy not to turn around and yell at him.

“Give her a break,” Fred said, to my surprise. 

I didn’t hear what else he said, I didn’t want to. I just shut the door to their dorm and moved to sit on his bed. Fred was the one most willing to stay up late with me and talk quietly, he didn’t seem to be sleeping well recently either. I think he was worried about his relationship with Angelina. I just… needed someone to talk to. Summer was in her own hell, Fiona was so busy with NEWTS, Cedric—

I inhaled sharply.

Cedric was gone.

I knew that. I accepted it. But it was harder, at Hogwarts, than it was at Grimmauld place, to remind myself of it. To be okay with it. I kept expecting to walk into him, or hear his laughter from the Hufflepuff table, and every time I walked into potions I kept going to where I sat with him the previous year, only to be questioned by Fiona when she arrived as to why I was there. I missed him.

It was unfair, he deserved better than what he got. He had so much talent, so much hope, and so much potential—he was a kind and gentle soul, and this world had just—

I felt tears well up in my eyes and before I could stop them, they were flowing down my cheeks. The door opened and there was a silent pause. “O-oh,” I frowned, turning away from both of them. Lee shifted in his bed. He could sleep through most things, but I didn’t know if me in hysterics was one of them. I felt… embarrassed by this sudden outburst.

“Mis?” Fred asked softly, moving to sit beside me. George quietly moved to his own bed, and while he said nothing, I knew he was listening carefully, and he let me know he was there for me in his own way. “What’s wrong?”

“I just—it’s stupid-“

“Tell me,” he said, taking my hand.

I thought of Angelina and I thought, I knew, that I should move my hand from his, but all I wanted was to feel a little less lonely. How was it possible I felt like that when my best friend was staring at me with so much concern it was breaking my heart.

“I miss Cedric,” I admitted weakly.

“I thought—you—you were okay with it.”

“I was-“ I said, looking down into my lap. “I am… it’s just… harder here. I thought I was okay with it… spending all that time with Charlie i-it really helped- oh why can’t I stop crying,” I muttered, wishing right then for one of Fiona’s conjured handkerchiefs. 

“You have us,” Fred said quietly. “Me…” He paused. “A-and George. You have us. You can talk to us, Mis, you don’t need to keep it all bottled up. It’s not healthy for you.”

“I just feel ridiculous,” I admitted. “What do I truly have to complain about or be sad about…” I sighed, shoulders falling.

Fred was silent, listening to me. I wasn’t even sure what I was speaking about—my dislike for Umbridge, my want to abandon my classes, my want to just abandon school altogether, how hard it was to leave Zeus every day, how much I wanted to help him more, how Summer broke my heart every time I saw her and how she hadn’t spoken to me at all in a month, how when I’d asked Neville about her, he looked like he’d been asked to solve a very complex riddle to save the lives of everyone in the school. I even got upset at myself for the compassion I was suddenly feeling for Malfoy—that one both Fred and George laughed about.

“This weekend is Hogsmeade,” Fred said at length, long after I had stopped sobbing on him. I was now sat on the floor between their beds on my own makeshift bed. I’d asked Widget to get the House Elves to stop moving my blankets back up to the girl’s dorms, since I was always coming down anyway. It was better like this.  Fred had lent me one of his mother’s hand knitted sweaters to sleep in, since it was colder than normal that evening. “Wanna do something?”

“I can’t,” George said quickly. “Fiona and I are going on a date.”

Fred snorted. “I wasn’t asking you.”

“You don’t want to go with Angelina?” I asked quietly. “Try and fix that?”

“I don’t know if it can be fixed, Mis,” he murmured, rolling onto his side so he could stare down at me. I lay down then, facing him. I couldn’t see much in the dark, but I could see enough to tell that he was frowning, a troubled look ingrained into each crease of his face. That wasn’t right, I decided, Fred’s expression should never look so distressed. “We both know it… but neither of us wants to give up.”

I wanted to say that maybe it was better for them both that one of them did, but I remembered my silent promise to myself to not get involved. I just frowned, watching him carefully. “Well,” I said eventually. “If you want to, we can go together.”

Going to Hogsmeade with Fred was exactly what I needed. He kept me so busy I was unable to think about anything else, even the mysterious meeting Hermione had asked us to come to in the Hogs Head later. He and I didn’t do anything in particular, but I laughed a lot, and so did he. We had passed Angelina who was with Katie, but she’d not even looked at him. He either didn’t notice, or didn’t really care because he didn’t look at her, or even mention her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, maybe somewhat sad. 

“It’s getting colder,” he murmured as we walked through the busy street. “This year is going fast.”

“Our final year,” I murmured, rubbing my hands together to warm them up. “Doesn’t that seem strange? This time next year-” I choked. “We will have our own lives, we won’t be at Hogwarts.”

“Georgie and I will have the joke shop running,” Fred said happily, looking relaxed and reassured. “Everything is going so well, we even found some premises in Diagon Alley. To think, if Ron hadn’t sat in the same carriage as Harry that day our lives could be entirely different.”

I gulped down, watching the door to the creaky old pub open as a few people went in. I couldn’t imagine Aberforth was happy there were so many students there, he liked it quiet, and so did his usual punters. “If I hadn’t spoken to you both that evening in the common room…” I looked up at  him, biting my lip. Fred had matured since I’d met him, grown into a rather handsome man. He was taller than me, but I liked it, his height made me feel more secure and safe next to him. I wanted to tell him how I felt. It was the right time, we were both so happy, and we were happy spending time together. If there was a perfect moment, it was then. “Fred?”

“Mis?”

“I have something I-”

“Artemis!”

I snapped around to glare furiously at Fiona, all my confidence washing away as quickly as it had appeared. Who knew when I was going to get another chance like that to tell him, especially not one as perfect as that had been. I felt somewhat sick, I’d been so close to telling him. I had been close to ruining everything--

“Hermione badger the pair of you two into coming, too?” She asked, her cheeks and nose a bright red as she came over. There was a bright smile on her face and her usual glasses were absent. George was hurrying to catch up to  her.

“Did you two just come from the direction of… Puddifoot's?” I laughed. “I hate that place.”

“Me too,” Fred said, muttering something about how Angelina had dragged him there on valentine’s day and it had been so over the top it had made him feel sick.

“Really?” Fiona asked, looking at George. “You hate it too… don’t you?”

George shrugged. “You like it there.”

Fiona’s face lit up.

“Come on,” Fred mumbled, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the pub. I wanted to laugh at how put out he seemed. George and Fiona really were cute together, if quite an unlikely pair. She seemed more the type of person who would have fit well with Percy. My heart panged. Percy. I wondered if he’d ever talk to his family again, if it would ever be okay between them again, it broke Mrs. Weasley’s heart, every time someone had mentioned his name she’d all but burst into tears. I knew he was a git, but I had thought he would have drawn the line at turning his back on his family. I hadn’t heard from him at all, though I had written to him while I’d been with Charlie, telling him exactly what I thought of how he was treating his mother. It had been a rather bold move on my part, but it had been while I was so angry at the world for Cedric’s death that I hadn’t thought about it twice. It ended up being a good outlet for the anger, and so I had written multiple things to multiple people, though I hadn’t sent any but the one for Percy.

It was busy in the Hogshead. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were there, Harry looking quite put out and Ron glaring heartedly at Ginny’s boyfriend who didn’t seem to be able to leave her alone. I noticed Fred stiffen and he headed straight for her, sitting so close to his little sister that Michael Corner backed off just a bit. “Honestly,” I laughed, sitting near Luna instead. There were so many people by the time everyone was assembled.

“I thought you said a few people, Hermione,” Harry hissed.

“W-well,” she stuttered.

“Sorry, Mis,” Lee said, all  but falling over someone and almost landing in my lap. “I bet Abe hates this.”

I laughed, eyes falling on the last two people to arrive. Neville and Summer. She looked considerably better from the last time I had seen  her, her eyes showed no signs of being red and puffy, though she looked so thin and so tired. She practically clung to Neville, but surprised me when she made her way towards me. She looked so unsure, fiddling with the long sleeve of her rather floaty yellow dress she was wearing. “Can I sit next to you, Artemis?”

“O-of course!” I said quickly, moving over to make some space. Luna just hummed,  her wand tucked firmly behind her ear. I was trying not to laugh-- I did like Luna, she certainly kept things interesting in a different way to how Fred and George did. “How are  you?”

“Better,” she said quietly. “I-I’m really sorry for how I’ve been.”

“You don’t have to apologise,” I murmured. 

“I do,  you were only trying to help… I just shut myself away feeling sorry for myself,” she sighed, her shoulders falling. She looked so small and seemed to be trying to make herself look even smaller. “Neville has been really good to me-” she broke off. “I don’t deserve him.”

“Sum, if anyone deserves to be shown some love right now, it’s you,” I reassured her, taking her hand and squeezing it. 

“How have you been? I spoke to Fiona earlier, she said you and Fred were on a date?”

I choked. “No, he’s still with Angelina,” I said, keeping my voice quiet. “We just hung out together. He was distracting me.”

“From?”

“Thinking about Cedric,” I admitted quietly.

Her blue eyes shot up to look at me, sympathy and remorse shining in them. “I’m so sorry, I should be there for you. I didn’t think… how this is on  you, you just seemed okay a-and…” she fidgeted. “I’m so sorry, Mis, I know you loved him like a brother.”

I just shook my head. “It’s okay, Sum, I had Fred and George. Fred’s been amazing to me, you wouldn’t believe it, he’s like an entirely new person,” I smiled at her. “You’ve had every right to not be yourself, Summer.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but Hermione cleared her throat. I couldn’t help but feel that whatever she wanted us to talk about, this was not the best place to do it. There were so many of us, and the pub was so quiet that anyone could have heard us. Anyone could have been under the hoods and hats and masks in the bar. The Hogs Head always attracted shady individuals.

“Most of you know w-why we’re here,” she said, breathing in deeply. “We need to learn Defence against the Dark Arts, properly, not that rubbish Umbridge has us doing.”

“Here, here!” George said loudly. Fiona laughed and hit his arm.

“So, we had the idea, well, Hermione did really,” Ron said. “That we should find a different teacher-” he looked at Harry, trying to make his intentions clear. “We need to be prepared for what’s out there.”

“Yeah?” Michael Corner asked. Fred shot him a look. “And what’s out there?”

“You know very well,” Ron snapped.

“According to the prophet, he’s mad, making it up,” he said again. “No one else was there. Dumbledore may be content to believe his word, but what of the rest of us?”

I clenched my fists and leaned across the small table. “What of it, Michael? How on earth do you think Cedric died?” There was silence. “You think a gust of wind knocked him over? That he landed on his wand and did himself in? Or perhaps you’re trying to imply Harry did Cedric in himself.”

“T-that’s not what I’m saying,” he said back loudly.

“So what are you saying?” I said, surprising myself at the boldness. I was angry; Harry didn’t need to justify himself. “That some other dark wizard did it?”

“It’s okay, Artemis,” Harry murmured. “Just forget it. I’m not going to talk about Cedric, so if that’s the only reason any of you are here…  you may as well just leave.”

Cho and her friend shifted. Cho looked in a terrible state, though her eyes were fixed firmly on Harry. She didn’t want to leave, but her friend certainly didn’t seem like she wanted to stay here. I couldn’t blame her, we were risking a lot-- there was no official rule against that was essentially a study group, but with how the ministry and Umbridge was, I wouldn’t  have been shocked had we all been expelled had they caught us doing this. 

“Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm, Harry?” Luna asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes,” Hermione replied. “I’ve seen it.”

There were some murmured responses of awe, even I had to admit I was impressed. That was incredibly advanced magic. 

“And in second year he killed a Basilisk in the chamber of secrets with the sword in Dumbledore’s office,” Ginny said. Michael looked rather put out of her support, but Fred just grinned triumphantly. I laughed, the noise getting his attention. He grinned at me, winking, then looking back at Harry and Hermione.

I noticed the corner of Summer’s lips turn up just slightly.

“And last year, he fought off about a hundred dementors at once,” Ron said.

“Look, it’s all good saying it like that,” Harry muttered, now fed up and just… he looked so small. He had all these grandiose achievements on his shoulders, he was thrust into danger without any real say in it, all because of the things that had happened when  he was a baby. By no choice of his own. I wanted to do anything to stop it, take him away somewhere, him and Draco, Summer, everyone in this room. Just hide them, find a way to keep them all safe. “But it was just luck, I always had help. You don’t know what it’s like out there.”

“You’re right, Harry,” Summer said quietly. He jumped, staring at her in shock. “We don’t know what it’s like. That’s why we need you to teach us… Voldemort,” she gulped down the word, squeezing my hand for reassurance. I noticed Neville move, wanting to be closer to her and I smiled. “He’s out there… and we have to protect ourselves, and if no one else is going to help us… Harry, you have to.”

By the time we were returning to the castle, Hermione was talking very quickly with Fiona about possible places for us to meet. Harry was very quiet, walking with Summer who held tightly to Neville’s hand and was talking to him about how Anita could possibly meet them in Hogsmeade and give them ideas of what to learn. If anyone would approve of them learning to fight back, it would be her. I walked with Fred at the back. Both of us were silent. George was ahead with Fiona, walking just behind her, listening to every single word she said. I couldn’t help but feel jealous. He cared for her so much.

“He’s lucky,” Fred murmured. I followed his gaze, noticing it was lingering on his twin. “He likes her a lot, and she likes him just as much back. They work together without trying.”

“Some people just do,” I replied quietly.

He sighed, shaking his head. He seemed as though he wanted to say something more, but he stopped himself. “What were you going to say before?”

I froze and he stopped walking to linger with me. Should I tell him? No. No I couldn’t. The friendship I had with him was more important than my feelings for him. I didn’t want to ruin it at all, not when we were in such a good place. I thought of the late night conversations with him, the way he held my hand when I hadn’t said anything in a while, or the way he’d been reassuring me a lot recently. I couldn’t lose that, I couldn’t lose him. “It was nothing,” I murmured. “Come on, I need to feed Zeus before dinner. Wanna prank Umbridge?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Of course I do, did you really need to ask?” I beamed at  him.

“Come on, you two!” George said loudly. “You’re slowing us all down!”

“We’re coming, Georgie!” I said, hurrying after him. I paused, looking back at Fred. “Last one back to the castle is a loser?”

But before he could realise what I’d proposed, I’d already run off at top speed, laughing wildly. My lungs burned, and I could hear Ginny and Hermione saying something about how I’d gone crazy, but then I heard Summer’s laughing, and suddenly she was rushing to catch up with me. I had no doubt Fred could have beat us both, I was incredibly unfit, but he let us both win. I was wheezing, breathing heavily as I fell to sit on the top step of the gates. “N-never… let me do that… again…” I breathed out.

Summer laughed, equally as out of breath. “That felt good.”

“You two are mental,” Fred sighed, pulling me up to my feet. “Do I need to carry you?”

I hit his arm, laughing through my panting, but leaned against him for support. It had felt good, as Summer had said. I wasn't sure why, perhaps they were right, she and I had gone mad, but if madness felt this good I suddenly understood why Luna seemed content with who she was. 

“Fred,” she laughed. “You’re the loser.”

“Actually,” he said, pointing to the others who were arriving. “I think you’ll find dear Ronald is the last one, therefore he is the loser.”

I couldn’t help myself, I just burst into laughter. If I hadn’t been leaning against him, and if he didn’t have his arm around me, I probably would have fallen over from laughing. Perhaps it was the whole rule breaking thing, while it wasn’t a foreign concept for the twins and I to be involved in such things, this was a whole other level. Perhaps things would get better now. Now I had something to look forward to, Summer was talking and laughing again, and even Fred seemer cheerier than before. Maybe I’d be going home for Christmas this year and wouldn’t feel like falling apart the entire time,  having to hide what was going on from my family. Hopefully, the rest of the year was going to get better and better until we finished our last exams, and we could enjoy the sun on the bank of the lake, lazing around and watching the giant squid. It could happen, I knew it wouldn’t, but it could, and the prospect of it being a possibility urged me on.

 


	20. Purpose

October and November were mostly uneventful, well, mostly. Umbridge had really cracked down on students, she knew there was an illicit club going on, but she couldn’t find it at all, and as such, it drove her crazy. She’d appointed many members of Slytherin as members of the ‘inquisitorial squad’ to try and find out about us, they never did. We met in the room of requirement, and with the cloak, and the map, us getting caught was near to zero. Unless someone ratted us out, it was going to be fine. The rule breaking, the fighting back, the entire defiance thing, really made Summer start to act like herself again. She was smiling and laughing, and seemed to have forgiven Fred for how he acted last year. I noted that he seemed to be trying extra hard around her, too. I couldn’t say exactly why that made me happy, but it did.

The biggest event that happened in those two months was me, getting banned from Quidditch. Umbridge had realised the ones constantly pranking her had been the twins and I, yet she couldn’t prove it. The other teachers, even Snape, were turning a blind eye to our havoc, and I was almost sure I saw McGonagall turn the other way when she’d been coming down the corridor towards us one evening. Umbridge, however, decided to make our lives hell for it. Neither of them seemed to really care, no matter what she said or did, they just focused extra hard on perfecting their skiving snackboxes so that we could all ‘bunk off’. They’d grown in popularity, and my pride in my two best friends had grown just as much. It was one class, at the beginning of November, when it happened.

We were reading in silence, as always, but one student had a question for her. She was usually happy to answer if it was a genuine question, but the boy whose name I didn’t know, had instead asked for directions on the wand movement of the spell in question. Umbridge had refused to answer. “Why not?”  he asked back, feeling quite indignant. “Cedric knew this spell.” 

“And it did him little good,” Umbridge said, almost too sweetly. “Did it?”

It had made me mad, absolutely mad. Livid. I stood up, slamming my hands down on the desk. I heard Fred groan, heard George pleading with me to sit down, to pretend as though I had nothing to say, it had been for some other reason, but I couldn’t let this go. She’d taken to making rather scathing comments about Cedric, and honestly it pissed me off. He was too good to be spoken of the way she did, it was just disrespectful! In my anger I forgot entirely about her new job of allowing who got to play on team sports, something which Harry had been banned from. Angelina had been livid, but the team had been doing well after replacing him. Ginny filled in for us as seeker now. But I just couldn’t sit by anymore. 

“Of course it did him little good,” I said, glaring at her. “What good are spells like this against Voldemort?” Her face went pink, red, and then purple. “You aren’t preparing us properly, no one is! How do any of you expect us to survive?”

“He is not back!” She hissed out. “Cedric Diggory’s death was a tragic-”

“Accident?” I yelled at her. The class was silent, watching in shock. Fred groaned again. “An accident is falling on a step and cutting your chin. You say accident like he tripped and impaled himself onto Voldemort's wand. It was murder!” I leaned closer, breathing deeply. “And you know it.”

“You are misled,” she said suddenly, calming herself down with even breaths. I realised I should copy her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “What should I expect with the types of people you make friends with.” Was she referring to the twins? Hagrid? Or the ones I had made over the holidays? I clenched my fists tightly. “Cedric’s death has obviously upset you. You were close with him, were you not?”

She was talking to me like a child. “Go ahead, make out that I’m not in my right mind.”

She smiled. “You’re not, though, are you, Miss. Taylor? Grief is a hard thing, but you are obviously not coping,” she paused, turning to her desk and scribbling on some paper. She approached me, holding it out with her stubby, piggy hand. “Take this and go to Professor McGonagall, would you? I think it would be a danger to allow you to continue playing Quidditch, too, Miss. Taylor,” she smiled sweetly, victoriously. 

I snatched the paper from her hand and grabbed my things, turning from the room in one movement. I wanted to say more, to argue with her about the ‘quality of my friends’, but I wasn’t entirely sure I could control myself. I wasn’t even that mad she banned me from Quidditch, I was more worried how Angelina would  yell at me for it, but…. I must have looked like a woman on fire as I stalked down to McGonagall’s office. A few first years with a free period had passed me in the halls and had all but jumped to the side to avoid me. Probably for the best. I knocked on her door probably too hard, yet when she let me enter, I felt myself calm down considerably.

McGonagall  had always been good to me. She’d always given me chances, always taken the time to listen to me. I’d seen her office plenty my first few years at Hogwarts, the cozy fire, and her somewhat endless supply of biscuits had been my favourite comfort in those years. “Miss. Taylor?”

“ _ Professor _ Umbridge sent me,” I mumbled, sitting in the chair opposite her and pushing the piece of paper towards her.

She sighed deeply. “What is it with Gryffindors and yelling at her?”

I bit down a remark about how she should try and keep quiet near that toad, but was unable to. No one was fond of Umbridge, even less so after the scene with Trelawny the other week, where she’d dismissed the divination teacher in front of everyone. I’d never really been fond of her, but my heart had ached for her. “She’s a foul woman.”

“She is still your teacher.”

I grunted. “She isn’t teaching us.”

“Well, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. I doubt she’s going to let you back onto the team,” McGonagall sighed deeply. “You mustn’t give her anymore reasons to punish you, Miss. Taylor. You are lucky she hasn’t discovered the Griffin yet.”

I sighed. “When is Hagrid back? I’m worried about Zeus, he needs to socialise, but I can’t do it alone, not with her here.”

“I do not know,” she replied simply. “He was supposed to be back already.”

It felt so stupid, so hopeless. My anger all but dissolved while talking with McGonagall, and before long I was sat in front of the fire of the common room, reading a book for a potions essay. It was quiet for once, nice. I  had to figure out what to do about Zeus, I had to--

“You got banned from the team?!”

“Angelina,” I murmured, looking up at her. I pushed my work to the side, taking care not to spill my ink pot. 

“First Harry, and now you? Where am I going to find another chaser?! There’s a match in a few days! Do you realise the position you put me, us in?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “You’ll find someone, Angelina, convince Alicia if you have to.”

“You don’t care, do you?”

I stood up. The door opened, people slowly filtering in. Some paused, sensing the tension and wanting to watch, others wanting to get away from the potential mess. I didn’t like arguing with Angelina, she and I had been good friends, but… it was broken, and there was no way to fix it. Whatever had caused her to act the way she had the previous year, her inaction of apologising to me after she’d realised, quite guiltily what she’d done to my friendship with Fred, it all added up to my anger towards her. Plus, how she was treating him now-- “I do care, actually, Angelina. In case you didn’t hear, I got banned because I was standing up for my friend!”

“He’s dead, he doesn’t need you to stand up for him!”

I inhaled. “So that means she can talk about him however she likes?!”

“What’s going o-”

“Butt out,” Angelina snapped at Fred. He didn’t look hurt just irritated. “You should have let her! The team-”

“Is not more important than my friends! It wasn’t just Cedric she spoke ill about-”

She laughed loudly. “Friends, huh? You’re just a jealous child. Didn’t you and Cedric date-”

I wanted to jump at her, but Fred caught me mid pounce. There were some gasps, some people betting on the fight, some people even urging the fight on. But he kept me close to him, even as I struggled against him. He was much stronger than I had ever thought, it reminded me of Charlie, which I supposed wasn’t a shock. Fred was a good beater, of course he would be more muscular than say, Ron. 

“Mis, calm down,” he said. “You don’t want to get expelled.”

“So you’re taking her side, are you?” Angelina muttered.

“You’re out of order, Angelina,” he said firmly. “She did the right thing.”

“She’s going to cost us the cup!”

“The cup isn’t more important than friends!” I yelled, struggling against Fred again. “But what would you know? You treat your friends and your boyfriend like dirt!”

If I was angry, it was nothing next to the wild look on Angelina’s face. She pulled her hand back and I readied myself for her to hit me, but it never came. George grabbed her wrist before she could and refused to let it go. “Let me go, George!”

“I think you’ve done enough,” Fred said firmly.

My anger was slowly subsiding. I felt drained, tired, exhausted. I was so tired of arguing, so tired of how this year was going. Why was nothing going well? That woman…! 

“Fred?” she asked, staring at him. “You’re really going to pick  her side?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “I should have done it a long time ago, I should never have treated her the way I did last year, and neither should you! Isn’t friendship more important than the Quidditch cup?”

“It’s final year.”

“Exactly, friendships we’ve made over seven years-” Fred sighed deeply. I felt him relax up, releasing me when he realised I had stopped fighting him. “If this is the type of person you are, then I don’t want to be  your boyfriend anymore.”

Angelina sniffed, staring at him with some form of supercilious look, one that wouldn’t have been out of place on the face of a Slytherin Pureblood. She pulled her arm free of George and muttered, straightening out her school skirt and robes. “Fine!” She snapped. “Absolutely fine! If you like settling for… for-”

“I wouldn’t,” George muttered, folding his arms. “That’s my brother and my best mate.”

Angelina glared at him, almost knocking him over with her bag as she turned and hurried upstairs. I wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. People were murmuring, whispering. George was now in front of Fred and I. Fred--

I looked up at him, but I couldn’t read his expression well. I registered that he’d just broken up with Angelina, and because of-- I gulped down. “Fred?”

But he pushed past George and I and hurried off. I went to go after him, but George grabbed my wrist and shook his head. “Give him some space, okay? You okay?”

“I’m okay,” I frowned, sitting back down. He sat beside me. “You yelled at Angelina.”

“Of course,” he said. “I didn’t think her next words would be very kind, and Fred wouldn’t have been able to help himself. Besides, she was wrong.”

“How do you even know what she was going to say?”

He laughed darkly. “Because she was saying it to Katie a few weeks ago. Fiona caught her, almost hexed her on the spot. Probably would have if Snape hadn’t come around the corner,” he laughed again. I gave him a questioning look. “She… wasn’t very kind about you.”

“What was she saying?” I asked, feeling more sick. Angelina and I had been friends, good friends. I could hardly believe that we’d been reduced to this form of petty arguing and squabbling. 

George shifted awkwardly. I gave him a look and he sighed. I knew he was trying to spare my feelings, but if she’d been saying things to other people… I wanted to know what it was they were all thinking of me. “She said you were trying to seduce Fred away, but she couldn’t understand why he would fall for it because… well,  you’re not as pretty as her.”

I should  have been mad. I really should have, but instead I just let out a high pitched laugh, feeling kind of giddy over it. Me? Seduce anyone?! What a curious notion, I couldn’t imagine doing that at all. I didn’t have that in me, I was awkward and more likely to trip over my own foot or say something stupid than seduce anyone, especially Fred.

“You’re… not upset?”

“No,” I snorted. “The idea is ridiculous, can you honestly picture me seducing him? And she’s not wrong, she is prettier than me.”

George sighed. “No, she’s not.”

“She is.”

“She may have been last year,” he said firmly. “But I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Arte, but you got… pretty good looking over the holiday.” He groaned. “Come on, this is awkward,  you’re like a sister to me.”

I grinned. “I’m good looking, huh?”

He mumbled. 

I left him alone there to go to care of magical creatures. There was whispering following me, but I paid it no mind. I had given up caring what anyone else thought of me-- I was so tired of it. I just wanted to get out of here, carry on with my life away from this petty childish behaviour. 

Fred didn’t appear until dinner, but he was himself again. He entered the hall with Summer, the pair of them laughing brighter than I’d seen either of them in a long time. When George and I had questioned him, he’d just shrugged and asked how potions had been. He didn’t look at Angelina, and didn’t show any hint of wanting to talk about it. I reasoned that perhaps it had been a long time coming, that he’d already had time to deal with the breakup in advance. Still, it didn’t seem healthy.

But as the weeks went by he was as happy as ever. I worked with him in the DA meetings, both of us often messing up and laughing at the mistakes. I wasn’t really doing too well, even Neville had gotten disarming and stunning quicker than I had, but in an effort to cheer me up, Fred had pointed out that I would be the least likely to be eaten by a dragon. 

I didn’t miss Quidditch at all, it just gave me more time to study, and I spent the Quidditch matches with Zeus instead, trying to figure out how to help him. I was very aware of the centaurs watching him, probably worried he would be some threat to them, or maybe wanting to tell me that I should give up, but they never approached. Zeus was easy to feed, but he wanted company. He was fully grown now, and it was harder for me to play with him. His claws often cut me, and there had been one incident where he’d gotten too excited and had pecked my hand too hard. I now sported a new scar. I didn’t mind, though Fiona had fussed me about it. He wasn’t savage, he wasn’t even violent, he just had energy and no way to work it through. The best bet was Hagrid would return soon, and we moved him to cohabit with the Hippogriffs. 

The looming Christmas  holidays made me more anxious than anything else. I hadn’t seen my family in so long, briefly at the beginning of the holidays and not since. I’d written with Felix and my mother a lot, Selene once or twice, but I wondered how they were going to react. I wasn’t exactly the happiest person, the looming dangers of the wizarding world were growing on all of us, and the ministry’s inaction was making me more and more worried. 

Hermione met me in the common room the morning we were due to go home. Worry etched on her face. I noted the absence of Ron and Harry, and peered around curiously for the twins. I’d actually been sleeping in my bed recently, Angelina never looked at me, and even Katie and Alicia had started to ignore me now. I didn’t mind. 

“They’ve gone.”

“What?”

She grabbed my wrist, dragging me over. “Mr. Weasley was attacked last night-” I inhaled. “McGonagall told me, Harry saw it happen…  he’s with Dumbledore now. The Weasley’s all left with a portkey… h-he’s fine, that we know if, there isn’t much information. Harry wanted to go, too, but… well, Umbridge was mad enough the others had left without her knowing.”

“I bet she was.”

I spent most of the morning worried out of my mind. Umbridge kept her beady eyes on Hermione and I, and then when Harry had joined us, I could have sworn she broke her fork. She obviously hated being kept out of whatever was going on. Harry said little. Even when we were on the train. Away from Umbridge it was easier to relax, Summer, oblivious to everything, was speaking quickly to Neville. Apparently, she really wanted to introduce him properly to Anita, but he seemed to go green every time she mentioned it. Hermione and I had told Fiona when she’d come looking for George, and she sat with a serious expression on her face. She wasn’t going home for Christmas, instead she’d opted to take extra training at St. Mungo’s over the festive period, and she assured us both she would be calmer when she knew the details of the injury. She hadn’t met her boyfriends parents yet, but she was still worried.

When Hermione and Summer  headed to were Tonks, Moody, and Remus were waiting I longed to go with them. I wanted to see Fred, I wanted to know what was going on, but when my dad  hugged me tightly, I knew I had to go home, just for a bit. I had missed him, really missed him. Felix was next, fussing me and ogling all the scars and burns. He questioned every single one of them on the way to the car. I doubt that I gave him proper answers.

“How were the dragons?”

“Dragons,” I answered, shrugging. 

“Artemis, what’s going on?”

I sighed, wiping a stain off my jeans. It had been there for a long time, not budging, but I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want him to know. I didn’t want any of them to know. I didn’t know why, perhaps part of me was scared they’d get involved if they knew. That, any information on the war was going to make them targets. Right now, in my mind, they were safe. I knew they weren’t, truly I did--

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Felix snorted. “If you think Selene is going to take that for an answer,  you’re mistaken. Her girlfriend has been a real bad influence on her.”

“Anita?”

“You know her?”

I breathed out. “Of course I do, she’s Summer’s older sister. I didn’t know they’d made it official.” It cheered me up somehow. At least Selene would have protection, Anita was strong, intelligent, and hard working. And, I was happy that Anita had someone who cared for her, who could look after her. Something she lacked. 

It felt weird being home. My mum fussed me endlessly, almost crying as she looked over each scar and each burn. Selene’s eyes were afire as she stared at me, then she sat me firmly in the living room, arms folded. She had changed. She looked… happy. As if she’d finally come to accept herself, and had embraced it. Her hair was longer than ever, curled and bushy, but I noted she’d pierced her nose. Her hands were covered in stains from icing, she’d been busy in the kitchen with mom when we’d arrived.

“Anita told me, about Cedric.”

I inhaled.

“Who is Cedric?” Felix asked.

“Why didn’t you tell us? Is that why you ran off to Romania over summer?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, tough!” Selene snapped. “You’re talking about it.”

“What’s going on?” Mum asked, wiping her flour covered hands off on a tea towel and moving to sit near me. “Missy?”

I really thought I was done with crying, but I wasn’t. The stress of everything came out all at once. I told them, of Fred, of the arguments, of Cedric and I, of his death, of Voldemort and everything he stood for, of how much I was worrying about Draco Malfoy when I shouldn’t, of Summer and her parents, of Umbridge, of Zeus, of everything I could. I left out the order, knowing I couldn’t mention it, but I told them of Mr. Weasley’s attack. I cried, Selene and Felix hugged me tightly-- Felix looking resolved to protect me, speaking it out loud. He wasn’t going to let this ‘Voldemort’ get near me.

Surprisingly, talking about it with them helped a lot. I felt incredibly weightless afterwards. Exhausted, but… less burdened. Mum sent me to nap and rest in my room before dinner, and agreed that I could go to Grimmauld place to check on everyone after dinner, as long as I came back afterwards. I felt good as I apparated onto the top step. Worried, but good. I felt able to deal with whatever I was going to find inside.

Remus answered the door to me, letting me in with a small smile. “He’s okay,” he said before I could ask. “He’s stable, we got to him in time.”

I let out a breath. “How is everyone else?”

“Worried, but holding up,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “Fred…  hasn’t left his room though.”

“What?”

“He went straight up there, and apart from when they’ve gone to see Arthur,  he hasn’t left. He won’t even come down and eat,” he sighed.

Fred.

I knew instantly what I needed to do. I marched down to the kitchen, greeting people, warm hugs and everything-- though I didn’t sit down. “Mrs. Weasley, I’ll take some food up to Fred.”

“He won’t open the door, dear.”

“He will,” I said firmly. “I’ll knock it down if I have to.”

Sirius laughed softly. “I should tell you not to destroy my family’s house, but it could be quite amusing. And, I suppose it's good natured destruction.”

I gave him a small smile. Still, Mrs. Weasley gave me some cold cut sandwiches leftover from dinner on a plate, though she had a sceptical look on her face when she did. George gave me a pleading look. He wanted his brother back. I wasn’t sure if I could succeed if he’d failed, but I had to give it a try. I had to bring Fred back.

I crept upstairs, ignoring Kreacher when he spat ‘mudblood’ at me, and paused outside of the door. He’d locked himself in the room I had used when I had stayed at Grimmauld place. I frowned, knocking. “Fred, it’s me.”

No reply.

“Sirius all but gave me permission to blow the door up, so please, at least unlock it.”

There was still no reply, but as I pulled out my wand, I heard the lock click. No movement to open it, but, it was a start. I smiled triumphantly, pushing the door open and squeezing inside. It was dark in there, curtains drawn and no light on at all. “Freddie?” I asked softly, putting the plate down on a bedside table and tapping a lamp with my wand to turn it on. 

He was lying on the bed, facing me. His eyes were red and-- “Oh, Fred,” I murmured, hurrying to  his side. I knelt in front of him. I didn’t know what to say, I couldn’t ask him if he was okay-- the answer was obvious. It was so odd to see him like this, he was always so full of laughter. That was how he and George dealt with stress, they would laugh it out, make others laugh. Never this. “Hungry?”

“No.”

“Please? Eat something?” I levitated the plate over, holding it out to him. “Just one bite, you won’t have energy to lock yourself up otherwise.”

He didn’t give me a smile, but he did sit  up. I moved to sit where his head had been, and he took one sandwich off the top of the plate. He just stared at it, mostly picking at it and putting bits into his mouth. We sat in silence. I just watched his hands pick at the bread, unsure of what to say or do. Fred had always seemed so strong to me, so impossible to move to this form of emotion, but I knew that couldn’t be the truth, that when he was alone or with George, he must have let this side show. It broke my heart, I felt so useless, so powerless--

“Dad’s going to be fine.”

I smiled at him, putting the plate down on the floor. “That’s good.”

“Fiona was at the hospital,” he said quietly. “She insisted she work on the case… it really helped George, I think. Mom loves her.”

“Well, it’s hard not to love Fiona.”

“Mm,” he murmured, sighing as he finished off the sandwich. “She would of hated Angelina.”

I blinked.

“I really tried to fix it with her… I don’t know where it went wrong, Arte, she and I-- we were happy. I know we were horrible to you…” he wrung his hands. “I’m so sorry about that, you know, right? I didn’t mean to be so cruel to you-- Summer… she told me how it was.”

“It’s okay, Fred-”

“No, it’s not. What does it say about me if I let one girl change how I act to my best mate?” he looked at me firmly, but his eyes shone. “I was awful. I never stopped her saying things about you, even if they weren’t true.”

“Fred?”

He sobbed.

I sighed, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him close to me. He clung back, and to my surprise, I felt his tears on my shoulder. I didn’t say anything else, I didn’t do much else. He just… cried. He was overwhelmed, I guess. He hadn’t properly dealt with breaking  up with a girl whom he really had liked, and then his father, and… he felt guilty. 

“I really liked her,” he whispered at length, his head now in my lap. I played with his hair, not really paying much attention. The movement seemed to be calming to him, and he didn’t stop me either. He said nothing about it. It just felt natural, right. 

“I know you did, Freddie,” I whispered, staring down at him. “It’ll be okay,  you’ll find someone worthy of you. Someone who makes you happy, someone who you make happy,” I gulped down. He made me happy, but was I worthy of him? He’d said it himself, I was his best mate. I doubted he had feelings for me that went anything beyond platonic, but now was not the time to think about it, not the time to feel sorry for myself over that impossible situation. 

“This war scares me. Dad is hurt-- who is next? Mum? Even Perce… and Charlie and Bill--” 

“Fred,” I frowned.

“Ginny? You?” he looked up at me briefly, then closed his eyes. 

He didn’t say anything else, he just lay there while I played with his hair. There was a creak on the landing, but no one came in. I didn’t reply, not instantly. Fred just needed to feel loved, to feel cared for. The way I had been before I had gone home. I’d just needed reminding of why I had to be strong, why I needed to fight back-- all the things I cared for, and all the people who cared for me in return.

I took a deep breath.

“Fred, I… need to tell you… I wanted to tell you, before,” I paused, watching him. “I think it’s been awhile-- I didn’t know… until at the ball, but… I really like you. I have for a while…  you make me laugh when no one else can, and- Fred?”

I leaned over, closing my eyes when I noticed he was fast asleep.

I suppose I should have been relieved he was sleeping, but my courage dissolved away again. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to tell him how I felt anyway. I was content to let him sleep, to talk to him about it when the timing was better, when he wasn’t weighed down with so many burdens, so many worries. I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay there all evening, but eventually, I realised I had to go home. I gently moved from under him, levitating a pillow over to support his head where my lap had been. I grabbed the blanket off the side of the bed, covering him with it, and, before I left, bent down to kiss his forehead. I don’t know why I did it, it just felt… natural to do it. 

My heart beat crazy watching him. It felt like there was something else there, something unsaid between both of us, but I couldn't know what it was. Something deeper than anything either of us knew. I thought back to when I’d suggested we run away together at the beginning of the year and smiled sadly, turning off the lamp and closing the door firmly behind me. What I would have given, to have gone back to that time, and tried harder to convince him to run away with me. To run away and leave the war and all its worries behind us, to just have each other, and to never have to worry about whether the other would return to us. I clenched my hands. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. If anyone would come out of the end of this, it was him, and I was going to make damn sure of that. 


End file.
